Hearts on Fire
by The Silent Scream
Summary: Set after the S6 finale, ignoring S7 and S8. Despite being still caught up in grief about Tara's death, Willow allows herself to let someone new into her life, but as always, things aren't that easy. Rating mostly for cursing. Willow / OC - Completed
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is my first try at BtVS fanfiction after watching the show rather excessively lately, so if any of the characters are horribly off, I apologize in advance. Please also keep in mind while reading that this story is set about a year after the finale of Season 6, but ignores Seasons 7 and 8. Feedback is appreciated.

Disclaimer: All the characters of the Buffyverse are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy etc., you know the drill - basically, not mine. Just borrowing them for a while.

Hearts on Fire

It had been almost a year since Tara had died, but still Willow felt as if she'd never get over it, as if she'd never find herself happy again. To her friends, she functioned normally, performing spells when needed – always moderate ones, well aware of the fact that she might slip back into the darkness Xander had pulled her out of eleven months ago all too quickly – and generally helping Buffy and the others with slaying the various evils which tormented Sunnydale; she went to her classes in college regularly and had moved back in with Buffy, doing well at her exams and tests, but it all was done automatically, with no real joy for her behind it.

Her friends of course were aware of this, but none of them had an idea how to help her; in the beginning, they had tried to cheer her up, to distract her from her grief, but soon had realized that this didn't work, and now, they all had figured out that all they could do was wait and give Willow the time she needed to heal, something which seemed to her as if it would never happen. The worst thing was always the early morning, when the alarm clock rang and tore her out of her sleep; and still she got up every morning, went through her usual morning routine and then made her way to her classes.

This morning, she almost felt like ignoring her obligations, and stay in the dorm room all day instead, lying in bed and thinking of the wonderful hours she had shared with Tara; she knew though that, if she started doing so once, she'd spiral even deeper into her depression, and thus didn't allow it, getting up instead and making her way to the bathroom. She muttered a short and not all too polite greeting to the other girl brushing her teeth there, the blonde nodding in reply; since practically all of the students knew what had happened to Tara, it didn't surprise anyone anymore when Willow wasn't all too friendly or polite, and at least about this, she was glad.

Bending over the washbasin so she wouldn't end up staining her pyjama, Willow quickly brushed her teeth, then washed her face before she combed her hair; she didn't bother to do anything else with it, just letting it fall down to her shoulders as she made her way back to the room and changed into an outfit more appropriate for class, wishing Buffy a slightly friendlier good morning when the Slayer forced herself out of bed and yawned, then blinked at her sleepily.

"You got early class?" she asked as soon as she was capable of coherent speech, something which couldn't always be taken for granted at such early hours; Willow just nodded in reply, picking up her bag already and slinging it over her shoulders, smiling weakly in response to the happy, cheerful smile Buffy gave her.

"It's not like I feel like going there", she then stated, "but I guess I have to…"

Immediately, Buffy nodded, well aware of what might happen if Willow didn't go to her classes; she gave her friend another encouraging smile, one the redhead didn't return this time, merely mumbling "See you later" as she stepped out of the room and hurried down the hallway, soon reaching the auditorium where the first class of the day would be held.

To her dismay, the seat she usually used, in the middle of the second row, was taken when she entered the hall; she knew that this shouldn't surprise her, but so far, she always had managed to get that particular seat, and for reasons unknown, the fact that she wouldn't that day bothered her more than it should. Forcing herself to shrug it off, Willow sat down next to the usurper, throwing the woman a dirty look out of the corner of her eye; if she noticed, she obviously decided to ignore it, since she just kept her gaze focused on the book which laid on the table in front of her.

Grumbling to herself, Willow got her own book for the lesson out of her bag and let it fall on the table, creating a thump loud enough to make the woman beside her jump; she threw her a short, irritated glance over her rimless glasses, then looked back down on her book, obviously greatly interested in the printed words. Now making a point of ignoring the woman next to her – even though the poor person most likely had no idea why she was confronted with dirty looks and intentional small scares -, the redhead removed her thick notepad from the bag and placed it next to the book, finally finishing her preparations for the lesson by adding her pen, leaning back into the seat as soon as she had gotten done.

Checking her watch, she frowned to herself as she noticed that the teacher was late; holding back the urge to sigh, she looked up at the ceiling and started counting the cracks in it, trying to find any interesting patterns, an incredibly boring thing to do, but still better than just looking straight ahead at the empty blackboard. Finally, with ten minutes delay, the professor almost came barging into the class, clearing his throat and adjusting his tie before he apologized for being late; general murmur of acceptance was the response from the students, and he cleared his throat once more before he started the lecture, Willow's dismay about the usurper of her usual seat soon fading away as she focused on the words of the elder man.


	2. Chapter 2

"You seem irritated", Buffy observed when she met Willow for lunch, those not very charming words being the first thing she said, not even bothering to greet the redhead properly. "Irritated Willow is not something I like to see, especially not during lunch. I prefer Cheerful Willow, or at least moderately mild-mannered Willow. What happened?"

"It's stupid", Willow sighed out in response, after finally managing to place her tray on the ridiculously small table without endangering the meals of Buffy and herself. "There was this woman", she went on once she had made herself comfortable and had taken a bite of the sandwich she had chosen as her lunch, "and she actually managed to take my preferred seat during all my classes… As I said, it's stupid, and I know it, but it still irritated me…"

Even though Buffy couldn't really understand why this would irritate her friend, she nodded and smiled sympathetically, listening with honest interest when the redhead spoke on, interrupting herself with bites from her sandwich every now and then. "I think she's new, I haven't seen her around here before…"

"Maybe she just always sat in the back before, then realized that she's short-sighted and moved up to the second row", Buffy hazarded, not sure why she had said this, but also not knowing what else she could have said in reply; to her relief, Willow let out a small giggle, a noise which hadn't been heard often since Tara had died, and nodded, a slightly mischief smirk on her face as she replied. "Actually, she did wear glasses…"

"See?" Buffy smirked, taking a huge bite of her own lunch afterwards, glad when Willow changed the topic a second later by asking her, in a low voice so no one around would hear, if anything unusual had happening during the patrols lately.

"Nope", Buffy immediately reassured her; during the last few weeks, the redhead hadn't been on patrol with her anymore, claiming that she'd rather stay at home and learn, leaving that task to Xander, the Slayer suspecting that Willow just feared she might use a too powerful spell while on patrol and lose control over herself once more. "Just the usual stuff… Angry bloodsuckers, wanting to kill me for slaying their best vampire pal… No new Big Bad so far."

"Good to know", Willow commented after yet another bite from her sandwich, the food almost gone by now. "Maybe they finally learned and realized Sunnydale isn't a place where they're likely to succeed anymore…"

"That'd be too good to be true", Buffy sighed out, getting done with her sandwich afterwards and washing it down with a gulp of soda. "But I'll enjoy that peace as long as it lasts… Well, the little bit of peace I'm getting with vampires still… around…"

She trailed off when she noticed that Willow wasn't really listening to her anymore, but was watching someone behind her, her gaze following the unseen person; when she noticed the questioning look of the Slayer, she lowered her voice again, nodding her head into the direction where she had been looking before. "Over there… that's her!"

Curious to see the person who had managed to irritate Willow, Buffy turned in her seat, not even trying to be unobtrusive; she quickly spotted the woman in question, since it had been quite clear where Willow had been looking, the glasses on the woman's nose being enough to identify her quickly.

"Guess she's new", she then commented, once more not sure what else she could say. "Haven't seen her around before. Let's hope she's not evil."

"Well, I guess she's not a vampire", Willow shrugged, taking a sip of her soda afterwards. "After all, she's walking around in bright daylight… And the only not so nice thing she did so far was to take my seat."

"Which she probably wasn't aware of", Buffy pointed out, then changed the topic by asking Willow if she wanted to tag along to the Bronze in the evening, letting the redhead know that Xander and Anya would be there, as well as some people they knew from college.

"…sure", the witch agreed after a few seconds, to the slight surprise of Buffy – ever since Tara had been shot almost a year ago, Willow barely had gone out anymore, only for special occasions like birthdays and the celebration of defeating yet another Big Bad, this being the first time that she agreed to come along without a certain reason.

"Great", she smiled once she had gotten over her surprise, something which happened rather quick – after all, as the Slayer, she was used to surprises, and much nastier ones than a friend unexpectedly agreeing to come along for some partying. "We should leave at half past nine, I promised the others we'd be there at nine…"

"Fine with me", Willow shrugged in response, giving the blonde woman a slight smile afterwards, being perfectly aware of how surprised Buffy had been when she had agreed to tag along; for a moment, she wondered if it was a good idea, then shrugged it off and told herself that she couldn't spend the rest of her life hiding away in her dorm room, trying to reassure herself that everything would work out fine and that she'd manage to enjoy herself with her friends juts the way she had done before Tara had died.

Several hours later, it seemed at first that she had been right, and that she would be able to enjoy herself; since by now, all of them were old enough to drink, she purchased a cup of beer along with the rest of the gang, then moved to one of the stand-up tables, where she listened to Anya for a while as the ex-demon rambled about how well the Magic Box was going and how much money she was making. Even though she had known Anya for a few years now, it still stunned her how greedy the woman could be; whenever the Magic Box came up in conversation, she started talking about how much money she was making, to the great embarrassment of Giles, the fact that the Watcher wasn't among them thus briefly relieving Willow.

Despite the fact that she had heard Anya ramble about her success at the Magic Box for a million times by now, she listened politely, nodding at the right places and feigning interest – until Xander finally came along and saved her by telling his girlfriend to quit about the money at last, changing the topic immediately afterwards by asking Willow how she was doing.

"Fine, I guess", she gave back, shrugging; since she hadn't been born the day before, she quickly had figured out that there was a deeper meaning behind the young man's question, and it didn't surprise her – after all, the whole group had been kinda shocked when she had shown up with Buffy, after only going out for special occasions, so it was no surprise that her friends wanted to know if this meant that she slowly was getting better.

"I'm having a nice time with my friends", she added, "and the beer's cold, so…" Trailing off, she gave Xander a smile, the young man returning it immediately; he reached out and briefly touched her arm, a short, but kind gesture of comfort and reassurance, this touching Willow more than all the phrases and meaningless words she had heard from her friends again and again ever since Tara had died.

Her smile widened slightly, and she gave her childhood friend a grateful look; to her relief, he didn't say anything about it, and kept himself from asking her further questions, gesturing at her cup instead and asking her if she wanted a refill as well.

"Sure", she agreed after a second or two of hesitation; when she had left the dorm hall with Buffy, she had told herself that she wouldn't drink more than one beer, but now she figured that it'd be okay to have another one, after all, her lessons only would start shortly before noon in the next day and it had been ages since she'd been a little tipsy anyway. Promising her that he'd hurry, Xander moved away from the table and towards the bar, with Anya in tow; all at once, Willow felt slightly lost, since Buffy was busy talking to one of her friends from college, and she looked around, watching the people around her having fun and morbidly asking herself if any of them ever had experienced the loss of a loved one, like she had.

As if the DJ had read her mind, he let the rather fast dancing song he had been playing during her talk to Xander fade out, a slow, romantic tune starting up moments later; it took her only a few heartbeats to realize that it was the song she had danced to with Tara on the blonde woman's birthday, and her heart cramped up with sudden longing and pain, causing her to let out a shaky breath. Suddenly knowing that she had to get out of here, that she couldn't stand listening to that particular song, she interrupted Buffy rather rudely in mid-sentence by tapping her on the shoulder frantically; one glance was enough though to show the Slayer that something wasn't alright, and her voice was concerned when she spoke up, obviously not having a clue about what was bothering her friend, not recognizing the song. "Willow? Are you alright?"

"I… gotta get outside for a moment", the redhead made herself lie after a second, not wanting to tell Buffy the real reason for her sudden mood swing, eager to avoid worrying her friend further and maybe spoil the evening for her. "I need some fresh air… I'll be back soon…"

"Okay", the Slayer gave back, still sounding concerned, obviously not fully buying the lie; Willow made herself smile at her briefly, hoping that the smile didn't look as fake as it felt, then turned around without giving her friend a chance to say anything else and hurried outside, letting out a relieved breath when the Bronze's door fell close behind her and cut off the song, giving her the chance to regain her composure.


	3. Chapter 3

The area outside the Bronze was surprisingly deserted; usually, couples hung around out here, schmoozing in the dark corners, but that night, Willow found herself alone, worrying briefly if this meant that a vampire was nearby and just waiting to jump her and suck her dry; then, she shrugged it off, telling herself that even if there should be such a bloodsucking fiend, she'd have no trouble to blast his ass away with a spell. Letting out a small sigh, she leaned against the wall next to the door, enjoying the peace and quiet; moments later, this was interrupted though as the door opened once more and another person stepped outside, Willow recognizing her as the usurper of her seat a second later.

Apparently not noticing her, the woman moved a few steps away from the door, then started digging through her pockets; it didn't take long until she pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, removing one of the cancer sticks and moving it up to put it between her lips, only to jump a second later and nearly drop her lighter, startled, when Willow spoke up behind her. "I hope you're not planning to blow that smoke in my direction…"

"You nearly gave me a heart attack, so I was close to not blowing that smoke anywhere at all", she replied, turning around to face the redhead; her voice was surprisingly deep for a woman, as well as slightly hoarse, sounding like the voice of someone who had been smoking heavily for a long time.

"Hey, I know you", the woman added after a moment of looking at Willow, while the redhead still asked herself why she had made that comment; usually, she didn't talk to strangers like this, but on the other hand, she usually also didn't stand in front of the Bronze, being upset due to a certain song playing inside. "You sat next me during class… During all classes, to be more specific."

"Yes, because you took my seat", Willow replied, receiving a blank look as an answer; she held back the urge to sigh, then explained herself, feeling incredibly lame the moment she started to talk. "Well, you see, I usually always take the seat in the middle of the second row, but today, you sat there, so… yeah."

"Yeah", the woman echoed, rising an eyebrow, causing Willow to feel even lamer about the whole thing, her cheeks heating up, making her realize that she was blushing; she cleared her throat and shuffled her feet, relieved when the woman glanced away after another second and down on her cigarette, as if suddenly wondering where it had come from. Obviously recovered from the shock Willow had given her, she moved the cigarette up to her mouth, plucking it between her lips and lighting it up; to the redhead's relief, she did make sure to blow the smoke away from her, the content look on her face being just another sign for a rather heavy nicotine addiction.

She took the time to put the lighter away before she removed the cigarette from her mouth – after taking another long drag from it – then brought the pack out again and surprised Willow by holding it out to her, a slight smirk on her face now. "Smoke?"

"No, thanks", the redhead replied after a second, oddly touched by the simple gesture, "I don't smoke…"

"Oh", the other woman gave back, not sounding all too smart, quickly speaking on before she'd end up looking like a dimwit. "I thought you did, and came out here as well to have a ciggy… Smoking's not allowed in there…"

"Nope", Willow declined again, giving the other woman a pointed look afterwards, in the back of her mind noticing how amazingly blue her eyes were. "I came out here to get some fresh air. Which you are stinking up now with that cancer stick, by the way."

Again Willow wondered what was going on with her – she had gotten much better when it came to her shyness, but normally, she still didn't speak to total strangers like that, not even if those strangers were nasty seat usurpers.

"Aw, come on", the woman now gave back, throwing her an incredulous look over the rim of her glasses, "I bet you can't even smell it over there. And I am blowing the smoke away from you…"

"Yeah", the witch had to admit after a few moments of pondering those words, "you're right… Sorry, I guess I'm a bit touchy today…"

With a smile and a casual gesture of her free hand, the stranger shrugged her words off, then took another drag from the cigarette, making a show of blowing the smoke away from Willow afterwards; if anyone else had done that, it probably would have annoyed the redhead, but for some reason, she found herself smiling at the sight, suddenly glad that she had come out here and that this strange person had joined her.

Fifteen minutes later, Willow made her way back into the Bronze, by now feeling much better, her mood rising even further when she heard the song which currently was playing and realized that it didn't bring up any painful memories; the woman she had been talking to had stepped back inside right after finishing her cigarette, and now had been swallowed up by the crowd, the witch not even noticing fully that she was keeping an eye open for her as she moved towards the table where Xander, Anya and Buffy stood talking.

"Hey, welcome back, Willow", Xander called out to her the moment she was close enough to hear him, gesturing at a rather lonely looking blue cup on the table in front of him. "I got you that beer you wanted, but seeing that you vanished, it's probably warm by now. Sorry 'bout that…"

"Never mind", Willow gave back, picking up the cup afterwards and taking a sip, grimacing at how warm the beer had become while she had been outside. "I better go and get a new one", she let the others know after she had forced herself to swallow the lukewarm mouthful; while Xander and Anya just nodded, Buffy threw her a concerned look, apparently being the only one who had noticed how long she had been gone. After taking the time to give her friend a reassuring smile, signalling to her that she was fine, Willow turned away from the table again and made her way to the bar, a task not made easier by the mass of people in the club; finally though, she reached the counter, waving frantically to gain the attention of the barkeeper, holding back the urge to roll her eyes when he served a skimpily dressed blonde right next to her before he finally found it necessary to give her a questioning look.

Quickly, before his attention could shift away from her and to the next skimpily dressed girl, she ordered a small beer, paying him – and giving him a tiny tip – as soon as he had put the cup down in front of her; grasping it securely, she made her way back to the table, holding back the urge to roll her eyes again when she saw that during the short time she had gone, Xander and Anya apparently had been lust-stricken, as they were kissing deeply.

"That's quite impolite", she pointed out as soon as she had joined Buffy, keeping her voice down so the couple wouldn't hear her. "Making out like that while you're just standing there…"

"I got used to it by now", Buffy shrugged, giving her friend such a warm smile afterwards that it made the redhead feel slightly uncomfortable, asking herself what was going on. "Plus, I'm not just standing here anymore now… You're here with me, and you can keep me busy… I'm glad that you came here with us tonight, you know…"

"So am I", the redhead had to admit after just smiling at the Slayer's kind words for a few seconds, taking another sip of her beer before she spoke on. "I guess I should have done that earlier… Go out with you guys, I mean, and just for fun, not because it was someone's birthday or something… Instead of sitting at home brooding about things I can't change anyway…"

"Nah", Buffy shook her head, reaching out and placing a comforting hand on the redhead's shoulder. "You had to grieve, and it's right that you did… It was important…"

"But it's time to move on", the witch gave back, smiling again when Buffy squeezed her shoulder. "Slowly, at least… With small steps maybe, but…"

Nodding her agreement, Buffy patted her friend's shoulder, then pulled back her hand and took a sip of her own drink; afterwards, she changed the topic by asking Willow if she felt like playing some pool, since Xander and Anya were still busy with kissing, making the witch nod in reply, the two women smiling briefly at each other before they made their way to the – miraculously empty – pool table, neither Xander nor Anya noticing that they had left.


	4. Chapter 4

In the next morning, Willow awoke to the sound of her alarm clock beeping, something which surprised her – since her lectures only started at eleven, she had set the alarm on ten o'clock when she had come home and had gone to bed, sure that she'd wake up before that time anyway. Still a bit stunned, asking herself if she really had come back home that late the previous night, she switched off the alarm, then got out of bed; Buffy was already gone, the sight of her empty bed reminding Willow of the fact that her friend had had a class early in the morning, pity filling her momentarily.

With a hearty yawn, she grabbed her morning hygiene utensils and made her way into the bathroom, mumbling a more or less friendly greeting to a girl she met on the way; once in the bathroom, she went through her morning hygiene as quickly as always, not even bothering to blow-dry her hair after a quick shower, but simply letting it fall down on her shoulders, not minding that it wet her pyjama. While she made her way back to the dorm room, she idly remembered the time she had spent at the Bronze the evening before; as always, she had lost horribly to Buffy when they had played pool, but since it had been fun anyway, she hadn't minded much.

To her own surprise, her thoughts drifted to the woman she'd talked to while she had been outside the Bronze, before her game of pool with the Slayer; she wasn't sure why she started remembering that person now, but what she did know was that it wasn't an unpleasant memory, the mental image of the woman's amazingly blue eyes making her smile slightly to herself. Briefly, she wondered why she'd think of the stranger like that, telling herself that it was quite silly since she didn't even know her name yet; then, she shrugged it off and got dressed, quickly collecting the books she'd need for her upcoming classes, stuffing them into her bag along with a notepad and a biro.

After a last quick glance at the remaining books, to make sure that she hadn't forgotten one she'd need, she decided that she had all the important papers, slinging the bag over her shoulder before she left the dorm room, humming softly to herself as she made her way down the hall which would lead her to the room where her first class would be held. Due to the rather moderate campus size, she reached it quite fast, feeling absurdly glad when she saw that her usual seat was free today; on the one right next to it, the woman she'd met the evening before sat, looking up from the book on the table in front of her when Willow made herself comfortable.

"There you are", she smirked, surprising the redhead as her words made it seem as if she'd been waiting for her, "I made a point of not taking your seat today, it'd have been a shame if you hadn't come…"

"That's very considerate of you", the redhead gave back while she sat down, giving the woman a hearty smile; while she made herself comfortable, she once more noticed the amazingly blue eyes of the stranger, this time combined with the first real notice of how long her hair was, the deep black lightened up by several bright red strands.

"I'm Willow, by the way", she introduced herself after admiring that hair for a second, holding her hand out; immediately, the stranger grasped it and gave it a firm shake, Willow briefly hoping that she didn't notice how the touch sent shivers up and down her spine, a reaction which surprised her – she hadn't reacted to anyone like that since Tara, and she hadn't expecting it to happen anytime soon again.

_Firm handshake, _she thought to herself, once more finding herself staring at the blue eyes behind the glasses, _that means strong hands… _

"Pat", the woman now introduced herself as well, smiling when Willow rose an eyebrow. "That's just a nickname, but you don't want to know my real name, it's horrendous", she added, making the redhead smile before she shrugged, her next words making the black haired woman chuckle.

"Well, you're speaking to someone who's been christened Willow, so I know about having a slightly odd name…"

"I like your name", Pat gave back, with a slight smile that made Willow's heart, in addition with the compliment, beat slightly faster. "It's unusual, true, but it's pretty, too…"

For a moment, the redhead expected her to add some cheesy line, something like "Just like its owner"; to the slight relief of the witch, she did no such thing though, merely trailing off and falling silent.

"Thank you", Willow smiled as soon as she could be sure that no dumb pick-up line would follow, since this would have lessened the interest she had in the other woman considerably; moments later, she internally scolded herself, telling herself that she shouldn't be stupid and get any hopes up too much, since she couldn't know if Pat actually was interested her, didn't even know if the other woman actually was swinging that way or if she was interested just in guys.

For a few moments, the two women just looked at each other, none of them saying anything, the silence not being uncomfortable though; then, the door of the hall opened and the professor came hurrying inside, apologizing for being late before he started the lecture without any further delay, his words and the things he was teaching distracting Willow from the woman beside her until the lecture was over.

* * *

"Today, you seem to be mild-mannered Willow again", Buffy observed as she met her friend for lunch, the two standing in line at the cafeteria counter together and carefully selecting their meals from the displays, "maybe even a bit on the happy Willow side… So your seat wasn't taken again today, I take it?"

"Nope", Willow smiled, selecting a bowl of fruit salad as dessert, then making her way to one of the free tables, Buffy close behind her, "the evil one who took my seat made a point of not taking it today…"

"Wow", the Slayer observed in response, raising an eyebrow while she made herself comfortable on her seat and started unwrapping her sandwich, "you must have given her some really dirty looks then yesterday, if this was enough to make her take another seat today…"

"Oh, no no no", Willow hurried to deny, briefly wondering if Buffy really thought she had done that – after all, she usually wasn't the person to give others dirty looks, and especially not such nasty ones that it emotionally scarred other people. "I actually talked to her at the Bronze yesterday", she quickly clarified, "when I was outside for some fresh air… And I scolded her for taking my seat. You have no idea how lame I felt…"

She giggled at her own words, making Buffy smile as well, before the blonde woman reached over and patted the shoulder of her friend reassuringly, making sure though that her fingers were clean before she did so.

"Don't worry", she let the witch know, "I'm sure she'll realize that wasn't actually lame, but is part of your peculiar personality… In case you get to know her better."

For a second, Willow felt like frowning, asking herself if the Slayer was trying to imply something with her words; then, she shrugged it off and told herself not to be paranoid and just smiled and shrugged, taking a big bite of her sandwich afterwards.

"You want some company on patrol tonight?" she asked once she had chewed and swallowed, moving the talk topic away from her new acquaintance and to Buffy's duties; to her happiness, the Slayer nodded, unlike her not bothering to swallow before responding, her lack of manners making Willow giggle once more as she tried to speak around her mouthful of food. "Chure, chat'd be nice…"

"It's not polite to speak with your mouth full", Willow scolded, making Buffy smirk and shrug; the two grinned at each other, then both focused on their food again, quickly devouring what was left of it so they wouldn't end up coming late to their next classes.


	5. Chapter 5

Even though Willow once more shared all of her remaining classes for the day with Pat, the two didn't speak much more that day; they only exchanged some greetings and a bit of mindless small-talk while waiting for the professors, the redhead enjoying every second of it though. From time to time, she'd tell herself that she shouldn't get her hopes up, that she wasn't ready for someone new in her life and that she had no idea if the black haired woman would be interested in her that way anyway; still her heart beat faster whenever her eyes met Pat's, and while she got ready for patrolling with Buffy in the evening, she caught herself wondering how it would feel to run both hands through that astonishingly long hair.

To her dismay, she blushed at the thought, and of course, Buffy noticed; the Slayer threw her a curious look, did her the favour not to ask about it though, simply wanting to know if she was ready for patrol instead, making the witch nod in reply.

"I looked up some spells", she let her friend know while they left the dorm room together, the stakes in Buffy's bag cluttering softly as they made their way to the exit, "just some simple defensive ones, just in case…"

"I hope we won't need them", Buffy smiled, "but it's good to know that you'll blast any bad guys away, in case I mess up…"

"I won't blast them away", Willow giggled in response, shaking her head, "I was talking about _defensive_ spells, Buffy, that doesn't mean that I'll unleash Hellfire on them or something…"

"That'd be cool to see though", the Slayer smirked as the two stepped out of the dorm hall and left campus; Willow smiled as well, the thought of unleashing Hellfire on some vampire tempting her, but she told herself that it probably wouldn't be a good idea, not with her mental strength being not fully stable again.

"I guess so", she thus stated, automatically looking out for vampires while she strolled down the sidewalk next to the Slayer – after years of going on patrol with her, she was just as experienced about it as Buffy herself. "But I'm not sure it's a good idea… Not yet."

To her relief, Buffy immediately nodded her agreement, without needing to ask why Willow thought it might be a bad idea; she gave the witch a reassuring smile and patted her shoulder, only to surprise her moments later with what she said next. "So… Do you feel like dating someone again soon?"

"I don't know", Willow replied after a moment of surprised silence, wondering why her friend would bring that up now, asking herself if maybe Buffy had noticed something after all. "It'd be a lie to say that the thought hasn't crossed my mind", she then added, now not surprised anymore when the image of Pat appeared in front of her inner eye briefly at her own words. "But… I don't know, this may sound cheesy, or dumb, but I feel as if it'd be a betrayal towards Tara…"

"It doesn't sound cheesy, or dumb", Buffy immediately reassured her, making her smile weakly. "And I understand why you feel this way, but… You know, Tara wouldn't want you to spend the rest of your life with mourning for her…"

"Why are you bringing this up now?" Willow demanded to know, even though she wasn't all too interested in it – the main reason to ask had been the fact that the Slayer's words had touched her deeply, and that she wanted to win some time before she'd have to say anything about them, afraid that she might burst into tears when she'd talk about Tara and what she might have wanted for her.

"Well", Buffy now spoke up again, regaining the attention of her friend, "I hope you don't feel I'm tampering with your business when I'm not supposed to, but… As you said yourself, sooner or later, you'll have to move on, and well, dating someone would be a big step of that… Once you're ready for it of course and everything… You know I'm just worried about you…"

She trailed off, giving Willow a rather uncharacteristic, helpless but cute look, obviously not sure if she had made herself clear to the witch.

"I don't think you're tampering with anything", the redhead smiled, "and I know that you're just worried, and I appreciate it that you care so much for me, really… As I said, the thought has crossed my mind, but so far, I guess there's not really an interesting person on the horizon…"

"Not really?" Buffy echoed, giving her a curious look and raising an eyebrow, "that doesn't sound like a complete negation… Odd choice of words."

Again, Willow felt her cheeks heat up, realizing that once more, she was blushing; she cleared her throat, then gave her a friend a pleading glance as she responded. "Well… Maybe there's a tiny, tiny possibility that there is someone interesting around. But I mean really tiny. Microscopically tiny. Like a bacteria."

"Alright", Buffy giggled, "hint taken, I won't ask any more questions about that… But you know that, if you ever want to talk about anything… or anyone… I'll be there, right?"

"I know", Willow smiled in reply, once more touched by the care the Slayer was showing for her, "and it means a lot to me, really… Thanks…"

"That's what friends are here for", the blonde woman smiled, patting her friend's shoulder; then, the two reached the graveyard and their conversation ceased as it was time to focus on slaying vampires for now, both of them knowing that small talk would only get in the way of that, and neither of them wanting to take the risk this distraction would bring.

In the next morning, the alarm clock rang way too early, much to Willow's dismay; the slaying had taken longer than both Buffy and she had been expecting, a surprisingly large number of vampires rising from their graves the previous night and thus keeping them on their feet until almost two a.m., giving them both only five hours of sleep until it was time to get up again. With a hearty yawn, the redhead forced herself out of bed, telling herself that she couldn't miss her lectures and thus couldn't sleep for another hour or two while she made her way to the bathroom; not even the shower helped much with waking her up, and she kept yawning all the way to the lecture hall, hoping that the class would be more interesting than the last one, afraid that she might just fall asleep if it wouldn't be.

A bit of her tiredness vanished though when she spotted Pat sitting at the table next to the one she regularly used, the witch smiling to herself without even fully noticing it; she moved over to the free seat next to the black haired woman and let herself fall down on it, another yawn escaping her as soon as she had sat down.

"I'd say good morning, but it seems like your morning isn't particularly good so far", Pat observed in response to the enormous yawn; with a small smile, Willow shrugged, then yawned again before she replied, her voice sounding as tired as she was feeling. "It's an okay morning, I'm just awfully tired… Stayed up way too late last night."

"Let's hope the class will be interesting then, or you might just fall asleep", the other woman chuckled, making Willow feel for a moment as if she was reading her mind; before she could ponder this further though, Pat spoke on, her next words making Willow giggle slightly as well. "But no worries, I'll poke you in case you start snoring too loud…"

"Gently, I hope", the witch gave back wittily, only to feel her cheeks heat up at the response of the black haired woman. "Of course… I'm only rough if I'm specifically asked to be…"

Swallowing, Willow just looked at her for a few moments, trying to figure out if the innuendo really had been there and had been made on purpose, or if she was imagining things; then, she finally smiled as her blush faded, her voice taking on a slightly flirtatious hint as she spoke up. "That's good to know, I guess…"

It surprised her a bit that she was talking that way to the other woman, since the last person to whom she had spoken like that, with that certain tone in her voice, had been Tara; despite what she had said to Buffy the evening before though, it didn't feel wrong to speak that way to Pat, and she told herself that it was just for fun anyway, that she didn't even know if the other woman was interested in her that way and that there was no harm in flirting just a tiny bit.

Holding her gaze, the black haired woman appeared as if she wanted to respond, but before she had the chance to do so, the professor entered the lecture hall and greeted the students enthusiastically, forcing Pat to remain quiet and to focus on the lesson, something Willow regretted as maybe, her response would have made it a bit clearer if it made sense to keep up the bit of flirting or if it was fruitless, something the witch suddenly wanted to know more than anything else.


	6. Chapter 6

Right after the lesson had ended, Pat almost jumped up and rushed out of the lecture hall, making Willow wonder what was going on; she knew that her next class would be held in this hall as well, and during the last days, she had shared each class with the other woman, making her wonder if this would change now – or if her flirtatious tone maybe had been taken the wrong way and had scared the black haired woman away, something she didn't want to happen, but had to accept as possible. Shrugging it off, she told herself not to be silly about this, and once more reminding herself that she shouldn't get her hopes up – after all, there hadn't been anything really flirtatious or even romantic between her and the other woman so far, and she knew that it'd be silly to think that some maybe even unintentional innuendo might mean anything.

Still she caught herself glancing at the entrance of the hall every now and then, not allowing herself to admit that she was hoping the black haired woman would come back; and almost ten minutes later, she did so, to the surprise and delight of the witch carrying two of the paper cups the cafeteria used to sell take-away coffee. Smirking at her, Pat too her seat again, then held one of the cups out to her, a slightly mischief sparkle in her eyes as she spoke up, her words making the redhead smile as well. "I can't handle that next class without coffee, and I figured you could need some of it as well, seeing how you showed me your cavities several times during that previous lesson…"

"I didn't show you my cavities, I covered my mouth every time I yawned", Willow defended herself, accepting the cup the black haired woman was holding out to her though and smiling at her, the smell of the coffee reaching her nose and almost making her mouth water. "Thanks, though… That's very nice of you, and I can really need that coffee… How much do you get for that?"

With the last words, she already reached for her bag, where she kept her purse; before she could pull it out though, the other woman waved her words aside with a casual gesture of one hand, giving the redhead another smile afterwards. "Nothing, that's on me…"

"Oh", the young witch gave back, not all too smart, but momentarily not knowing what else she could say; then, she regained her sense and smiled once more, quickly speaking on before she'd end up looking like a dimwit to the other woman, something she suddenly wanted to avoid more than anything else. "Thank you again, then… That's really very nice, I'll repay that favour some day…"

"Don't mention it", Pat shrugged it off once more, her smile turning into a slightly mischief smirk as she gazed at the witch over the rim of her glasses, "that was done purely out of self-interest… Every time you yawned, I had to yawn, too!"

The giggle escaped Willow before she could hold herself back, causing several of the other students to look at her curiously; she ignored them though, all her attention focused on the black haired woman as she shook her head, still giggling when she spoke up again. "Well, at least you're honest about it…"

Still smirking, the other woman nodded, then took a sip of the coffee she had brought for herself; Willow smiled at her for a second longer, then brought her own cup to her mouth as well, the coffee tasting much better than it should have as she kept gazing at the woman next to her every now and then, a bit surprised and scared at how her heartbeat sped up whenever Pat's blue eyes met hers.

During the next several days, Willow ended up sitting next to Pat during all the lectures they had together, something she enjoyed more and more with every class that passed; no matter how tired or beaten she was after nights of patrolling, studying or both, the black haired woman almost managed to cheer her up – and always brought coffee along when she yawned often enough, making the redhead wonder every now and then how much money she by now had spent on coffee for her.

It still worried her a bit how fast her liking for the other woman was growing, and she kept telling herself that she shouldn't interpret too much into the kind gestures and sometimes slightly suggestive jokes Pat was making; still she caught herself thinking about the other woman more and more regularly, dreamy sighs escaping her every now and then as she pondered those amazing blue eyes and the long, thick hair. She got distracted from various tasks by those thoughts so often that Buffy eventually noticed, and commented about how her head seemed to be in the clouds much more than usual lately; when she saw how Willow blushed though, she only smirked knowingly and did the young woman the favour of inquiring no further, to the great relief of the witch – even though she sometimes felt like babbling about her new acquaintance, she still wasn't fully ready to talk about it and the feelings which were blooming within her, those contradictory needs making her feel a bit schizophrenic at times.

Whenever this happened, she shrugged it off though, telling herself that it probably was a natural reaction – after all, the thought of seeing someone romantically again still made her feel guilty, as if she was cheating on Tara, and she figured that her reluctance to speak about what was going within her was caused by this, that talking about what was happening would make it more real and would make the betrayal worse than it would be if she'd keep it to herself.

Deep inside, she knew that Buffy had been right when she had pointed out that Tara wouldn't have wanted her to spend her life with grieving for her; still this knowledge didn't help her with her mixed emotions, and every now and then, she wondered if she'd keep feeling this way, or if some day, she'd be able to admit that she was developing certain feelings for Pat, to herself and to her friends. The only time she didn't feel so confused and insecure was when she was talking to the black haired woman; even if they just were talking about the weather or about how the food at the cafeteria always tasted like cardboard, she felt relaxed and good, enjoying how often the other woman managed to make her giggle or even laugh – or making her blush with just a few well-chosen words, those always making her wonder if maybe, Pat was just as interested in her.

Every now and then, she'd ponder how she'd be able to find out, without risking it to end up looking like an idiot if she'd interpreted everything wrong after all; she always shrugged those thoughts off again though, telling herself that there was no need to rush things and that she would find out sooner or later.


	7. Chapter 7

All those thoughts had been banished to the back of her mind by the time Friday evening finally had come; to the delight of Buffy, Xander and Anya, she had agreed to come to the Bronze with them again, silently hoping that Pat would be there too and that they'd have a chance to talk – even if it probably would mean that her friends would notice and that they would ask questions at the first chance given, especially Anya, the ex-demon still having problems with tact every now and then.

Without even noticing it fully herself, she kept looking at the crowd at the club, trying to spot the black haired woman; she kept doing so until Xander noticed and asked her if she was expecting someone else, making her blush and clear her throat while she shook her head, the others immediately seeing through her lie, not inquiring about it though, making the witch wonder momentarily if Buffy had told them not to ask her any awkward questions. If the Slayer had done so, she was thankful for it; she was keen on meeting the black haired woman out of lecture halls for once, but still didn't feel like talking about her, telling herself that she still could let her friends know once she had figured out if there actually was a chance for anything romantic to develop between her and the other woman.

Moments later, she got distracted from those thoughts when she spotted familiar black and red hair, moving through the crowd and towards the bar; quickly, she excused herself from her friends and hurried to catch up with the black haired woman, her heart beating faster in her chest when she got a proper look at her and recognized her as the one she had been looking out for.

"Hey!" she called out, raising her voice so she'd be heard over the music playing just a bit too loud, "hey, Pat!"

To her relief, the other woman obviously had heard her, since she stopped and turned to look; a smile formed on her face when her gaze met Willow's, the witch automatically smiling back, her heart speeding up slightly in her chest while she pushed herself through the crowd until she stood right in front of the slightly taller woman.

"Hey", she greeted, suddenly feeling awkward and shy while she moved a strand of hair behind her ear, "it's nice to see you here… I was hoping you'd be here tonight…"

The words were out before she could stop herself, and she nearly bit her tongue, asking herself if she'd said too much – after all, she still wasn't sure if the interest she had in Pat was returned, and the last thing she wanted was to freak the other woman out.

"To be honest, I was hoping the same", the black haired woman now stated, distracting her once more from her thoughts, making her giggle when she spoke on. "That you'd be here, I mean, not that I'd be here…"

"I figured that out, but thanks for clarifying it", Willow smirked, giggling again at the slightly sheepish smile the other woman gave her in response; for a few seconds, the two just stood there smiling at each other, then Pat gestured at the bar, asking the witch if she was up to have a beer or two.

"Or three", Willow agreed, making her way to the bar with the black haired woman afterwards, "but I won't you let you pay for all of those…"

"I hope you'll accept my invitation for the first one, though", Pat gave back, already reaching for the back pocket of her pants, where she kept her wallet; with her smile widening, Willow nodded, sneaking a glance at the backside of the black haired woman when she turned towards the barkeep, admitting to herself that she liked what she was seeing. Quickly, she moved her gaze back up when Pat received the drinks and turned back to her, not wanting to get caught staring at her behinds; she thanked the taller woman when she was handed the beer and took a rather long sip of it afterwards, racking her brain for a topic they could talk about while she did so, not wanting to just stand there and look at the other woman like some dimwit.

"That beer's really good", she finally said – only to mentally slap herself a second later, not believing that she actually had said such a dumb thing. _Yeah, keep going like that and you'll surely impress her with your eloquence and poetic choice of words… _

"It is", Pat now agreed, not letting it show if she thought that this had been a dumb thing to say, "but it's a pity I can't smoke in here… Beer tastes the best when it's accompanied by a cigarette…"

"That's an unhealthy habit", Willow pointed out, smiling to make sure she wouldn't sound belittling or too harsh, "but if you want to, we can go outside, then you can have a smoke…"

"Gladly", the other woman immediately agreed, to the happiness of the redhead; the two smiled at each other, then started making their way outside, neither Willow nor Pat noticing how Buffy watched them leave with a slight smile on her face, a knowing expression in her eyes.

* * *

Outside, the two weren't alone this time, several couples standing at the wall and exchanging saliva; Willow looked at them briefly, wondering what it would be like to do the same with the taller woman in front of her, if she'd kiss good and how her lips would taste – before she pushed those thoughts aside quickly, telling herself that now, she really was putting her hopes too high if she already thought about kissing Pat.

"Can you hold this for a minute?" the black haired woman now inquired, holding her beer out to the redhead; hoping that none of her thoughts showed on her face, Willow smiled and nodded, taking a hold of the cup so the other woman could dig out her cigarettes, get one out of the pack and light it up, a content sigh escaping her when she took the first drag of it.

"The first drag's always the best", she let Willow know afterwards, taking back her beer; the redhead smiled and shrugged, taking a sip of her own drink before she replied. "I wouldn't know… I've never smoked…"

"I guess that's a good thing", Pat had to admit after a moment or two of thinking about it, "it saves you a lot of money, and you were right when you said it's unhealthy… But I guess everyone needs a vice, huh?"

"I guess so", Willow smiled in reply, the next words leaving her mouth before she had a chance to stop herself. "It might be nasty though if I want to kiss someone who smokes… I'm not sure if that'd taste so good then…"

"Well, there's always chewing gum, or mouth spray", the black haired woman immediately gave back, with a tone in her voice and an expression in her eyes that clearly was flirtatious, causing Willow's heart to flutter and her knees to weaken; all she could do was smile knowingly, at a loss for words, winning some time by taking another long sip of her beer. Usually, she wasn't so daring when it came to flirting, and she wasn't sure why she found herself able to say such things to the taller woman; when she had met Tara and had realized that the interest she had in her was mutual, she had tried to flirt, but it had been awkward and difficult, the witch never finding enough courage to show her interest as obviously as she just had done with Pat.

On the other hand, when she had met Tara, she still had been insecure about this whole thing, not sure how to handle her sudden interest in a woman; by now though, she knew that this was what she wanted, and figured that thus, it was easier for her to show it, the knowledge that she also had the support of her friends making it much less difficult to show her interests in other women as well.

"You know, there's something I've been wondering about", Pat now spoke up, distracting her from her ponderings once more and making her give her a curious look. "If that's your real hair colour", the taller woman clarified at the question glance, reaching out and briefly touching one of the red strands; even though there hadn't been skin contact, it sent tingles up and down Willow's spine, and she had to clear her throat before she could respond. "Actually, it is, I hated it pretty much when I was a kid, but I guess got used to it by now…"

She smirked, then gestured at the hair of the other woman, a slight sparkle in her eyes again as she spoke on. "I guess I don't need to ask you if yours is natural…"

"Actually, the black is", Pat smirked in response, finishing her cigarette before she spoke on. "The red's not, of course… Should we get back inside?"

Nodding her agreement, Willow held back the urge to reach up and ruffle that hair, once more wondering how it'd feel to run both hands through it, preferably while kissing the taller woman; quickly, she forced those thoughts aside though as they made their way back inside, even though by now, she was quite sure that if she'd make a pass at the other woman, she wouldn't end up being rejected, the mere thought putting a happy smile on her face.


	8. Chapter 8

Once they were back inside, Willow briefly felt insecure again, not wanting to leave Pat standing there, but also not sure if she wanted to introduce her to friends already, not feeling ready to answer any awkward questions; then, she told herself that they probably had noticed by now what was going on anyway and thus asked the taller woman if she wanted to come to their table with her, a smile curling her lips when she immediately nodded in reply. Together, the two pushed their way over to the table, Willow introducing the black haired woman to her friends; to her relief, they all just greeted her friendly and told her their names, none of them making any awkward comments, Buffy just giving her a knowing smirk while the two sat down.

"I like your hairdo", Anya spoke up, direct as ever, "but isn't it a pain to go to the hairdresser so often? And they are so expensive!"

"Uh, I guess so", Pat gave back, obviously a bit taken aback by this strange choice of a topic for conversation, "mine's not that expensive, though…"

Immediately, Anya demanded to know where this hairdresser was and how much it cost there; since she thus gained the complete attention of the taller woman, Buffy took the chance given and leaned over to Willow, keeping her voice low as she spoke up. "I know I promised not to ask, but I just can't help myself, you know me… So… Is this the not really you were talking about?"

"I guess so", Willow admitted, a blush colouring her cheeks once more, throwing a shy glance at the black haired woman before she focused on Buffy again, clearing her throat, now feeling slightly embarrassed again.

"I'm not sure though if that interest is mutual", she then added, suddenly glad that she could talk about this after all, ignoring the tiny voice in the back of her mind which whispered of betrayal and about how wrong this was.

"I think you should be", Buffy now surprised her, smiling at the flabbergasted look the redhead gave her in reply. "I've been watching the two of you when you talked before you went outside", she went on, still keeping her voice down so Pat wouldn't hear they were talking about her, something which was unlikely to happen though anyway since by now, Anya was practically talking her into the ground, to the obvious amusement of Xander. "And I've noticed the way she looks at you… She's just as interested in you as you are in her. Trust me. Heightened Slayer senses and all that."

"I hope you're right", Willow sighed out, looking at the taller woman dreamily afterwards; noticing her gaze, Pat glanced away from Anya and at her, a smile immediately forming on her face as well the moment her eyes met those of the redhead.

"See?" Buffy whispered, holding back the urge to let out a girlish giggle, Willow finding herself deeply touched by how happy her friend obviously was for her, even though nothing had happened between her and the other woman yet. "She practically got hearts in her eyes the moment she looked at you. You so have to go for it…"

"If I ever find the courage to do more than just make flirtatious remarks", Willow sighed out, "and if Anya ever lets her go again, that is…"

At this, Buffy snorted laughter, and after a moment, Willow giggled as well; the sound of her laughter made Pat look at her again, and once more, the Slayer noticed the dreamy expression in the eyes of the black haired woman, the sight putting a smile on her face as she hoped that everything would work out for her friend the way she deserved it.

* * *

Almost two hours later, the group decided that it was time to go home, all of them feeling tired by now; to the relief of Willow, Anya had stopped hogging Pat's attention after the pros and cons of various hairdressers in town had been discussed, and had given her the chance to talk to the taller woman properly, Buffy and Xander watching them chat with high interest. Now, as it was time to go, Buffy and Willow decided that they'd walk back to campus, since it wasn't that far and they didn't want to spend money on a taxi; since Anya and Xander had to go into the other direction, they parted in front of the Bronze, the couple telling Pat that it had been nice to meet her and that they hoped to see her again before they walked off, Buffy, Willow and Pat making their way into the opposite direction.

"That was a really nice evening", Buffy spoke up after they had wandered down the street in silence for a while, smiling at Willow and the black haired woman, racking her brain for an excuse to hurry off so they'd have some time alone. "We should repeat this some time…"

"Oh yes", Willow agreed, her glance moving to the taller woman beside her as she spoke on. "We definitely should…"

The two smiled at each other, the sight warming Buffy's heart; she cleared her throat, making the redhead look at her, her next words causing Willow to raise an eyebrow – before she gave her friend a grateful glance as she realized what Buffy was intending.

"Oh, dear", the Slayer exclaimed dramatically, patting her pockets, "I think I forgot… something in the Bronze… I better go back and check… You don't have to wait, see you in the morning Willow!"

"See you", Willow replied, Buffy holding back the urge to wink at her as she didn't want Pat to look through her little scheme; she smiled sweetly at the two, then turned around and hurried back to the club while Willow and the taller woman kept on walking, silence forming between them, the only sound being their footsteps on the pavement.

"It was nice to meet your friends", Pat finally spoke up after a while, making Willow smile up at her, her voice showing how happy she was about the words of the other woman when she replied. "I'm glad you think so… My friends mean a lot to me, they've been there for me when I… had a tough time…"

She trailed off, suddenly mortified at what she had said and how close she had been to tell the other woman about Tara and about how she had died – she barely spoke about this to her closest friends, and couldn't figure out why she almost had let this woman know about that tragic time of her life, someone she didn't even know for two weeks yet.

"That's how you know if they're true friends", Pat commented, not letting it show if she had noticed anything awkward about the way Willow had suddenly fallen quiet, "when they're here for you during tough times…"

"Yeah", the redhead agreed, a smile forming on her face again at what the taller woman said next. "I have to ask this though… Is that Anya always so focused on saving a few dollars and stuff? That was a bit weird."

"Yeah, that's just how she is", Willow giggled, daringly reaching up and patting the shoulder of the black haired woman afterwards, the touch sending shivers up and down her spine. "I'm sorry you had to endure this… I hope it wasn't too hard for you…"

"I'll survive", Pat smirked in reply, a sparkle in her eyes that made Willow wonder if her touch had had a similar effect on her; moments later, her heart nearly stopped as the taller woman showed much more courage than she ever would have dared after knowing her so shortly by taking a tender hold of her hand, the touch and the kind sound of her voice making Willow's heart melt. "It was made considerably easier with you being there…"

All the redhead could do was look up at the taller woman and squeeze her hand tenderly; the two smiled at each other, then kept walking, holding hands until they reached the dorm where Willow was living and it was time for them to part ways.

"So", Pat spoke up again once they stood in front of the door leading into the dorm, suddenly sounding a bit nervous, a fact which only made her more likeable to Willow, "you have any plans for tomorrow evening…?"

"Not yet", the witch replied wittily, feeling much more daring as she was sure now that her feelings were returned, "so if you want to do anything, I'm free…"

"Well, I just moved here, so I'm not all too informed about the possibilities here", the black haired woman smirked, "but… how about we go to that club again? It's a nice place…"

"Sure", Willow agreed at once, thinking to herself that she'd be content with just walking around town as long as she could do it with just that woman, all her worries about how fast this was happening so fast forgotten.

"Great", Pat beamed at her, the happy smile on her face making the witch's heart flutter once more. "I'll pick you up here then at… nine? Is that okay?"

"That's perfect", Willow reassured her, reluctantly letting go of the other woman's hand, the skin still tingling where her fingers had touched her. "See you tomorrow then…"

"Looking forward to it", the black haired woman gave back, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her pants – as if she needed to hold herself back from just grabbing and kissing her, Willow irrationally thought to herself.

"Sleep well", she added, causing Willow to wish her the same; for a few seconds, they just looked at each other afterwards, then Pat cleared her throat and gave the redhead another smile before she turned and walked off, Willow looking after her with a dreamy expression in her eyes until she was out of sight, only walking into the dorm once the other woman was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

Shortly after Willow had returned to the room she shared with Buffy, the Slayer came home as well – and immediately jumped on the bed Willow by now laid in, giving her a look so curious that it was comical.

"Soooo", she then inquired, "how did it go?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about", Willow feigned ignorance, causing Buffy to roll her eyes before she gave the witch a strict look and crossed her arms over her chest, sounding indignant when she replied. "Now don't you do this to me – I spent another fifteen minutes at the Bronze and fought off drunk guys so the two of you could walk home alone, now I wanna know how it went!"

"Awww", the witch cooed in reply, giving Buffy a smile that was sweet enough to make the Slayer relax again, "I know, and I really appreciated that, thanks… That was very considerate of you… But I have to disappoint you, no steamy smooching happened… We'll go out tomorrow though…"

"Oooh", Buffy let out in reply, the sound making Willow giggle, "on a date, huh?"

"I have no idea", the redhead gave back, even though she wasn't so sure about this as she sounded.

"Well", she thus corrected herself, "I guess, yes, it is a date… We were holding hands on the way home, you know…"

"Aww", Buffy sighed out, the noises she was making continuously causing Willow to raise an eyebrow now, briefly wondering if her friend had lost her treasury of words somehow.

"Holding hands, but no kissing?" the Slayer demanded to know before she had a chance to inquire about possible loss of vocabulary, proving that her worries about this had been unjustified. "That's sweet, somehow…"

"Sweet", Willow echoed, not really understanding why this would be considered sweet; smiling brightly at her, Buffy nodded, her gaze and tone softening when she spoke on. "Yes, it is… And it was sweet to watch the two of you talk. You'd be a cute couple, I'm sure, and you deserve it to be happy again… To have someone…"

"Thanks", Willow gave back, her voice trembling with emotion; she swallowed heavily, suddenly feeling close to tears, touched so deeply by her friends words. "I just hope it'll work out", she went on once she had regained enough of her self control to be sure that she wouldn't start crying after all. "I like her, I really do… She makes me laugh and everything…"

"Well, from what I can tell, she likes you too", Buffy smiled, reaching out and patting the shoulder of her friend tenderly. "I'm sure it'll work out just fine… And if it doesn't and she's nasty to you, I'll go all Slayer-ish on her and kick her butt!"

This made Willow giggle, and she gave her friend another grateful look; then, they both yawned simultaneously and decided that thus, it was time to go to sleep, the redhead drifting off quickly, thinking of Pat and looking forward to the time she'd spend with the taller woman in the next day.

* * *

The hours until nine p.m. seemed to take forever to pass, to Willow's great annoyance; she tried to keep herself busy by studying and working on one of the papers she'd have to hand in soon, but again and again, her mind kept wandering as she wondered how the evening she'd spend with Pat would go. Buffy had promised her to keep their friends away from the Bronze for the evening, to make sure that no one would disturb them; after all, even though she had grown really fond of Anya, the last thing Willow needed that evening would be the ex-demon hogging her date again and try to find new ways to safe money.

The fact that by now, she was thinking of the meeting with the black haired woman as a date hadn't gone unnoticed by her, but to her own surprise, it didn't make her feel as uncomfortable as she thought it would have; she still wondered if this would be some kind of betrayal towards Tara, but whenever those thoughts came up, the witch pushed them aside rigorously, telling herself that it was useless to think that way and that there was no way she could betray a dead person. With a small sigh, she now forced those ponderings out of her mind once more and tried to focus on the paper in front of her; for a while, she just stared at the screen of her laptop, her fingers resting on the keys, her gaze seemingly focused on the few lines she had written so far, her mind once more far away though, thinking about nine p.m. and about how nice it'd be to see Pat once more.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even hear how Buffy entered, returning from the burger place where she'd gone to get lunch for Willow and her; when the Slayer spoke her name, she jumped visibly, then looked up startled, her reaction making the blonde woman smirk in amusement.

"Had your head in the clouds again, huh?" she teased while she handed one of the two paper bags she had brought to her friend, then sat down next to her, her smirk widening when once more, Willow found herself blushing in response.

"Uh-huh", she mumbled, saving the few changes she had made to her file before she closed it, realizing that she wouldn't do much work on it anyway; she made herself more comfortable on the bed, then opened the paper bag Buffy had brought, the scent of hamburgers and French fries hitting her nostrils moments later, making her stomach growl audibly.

"Seems as if the Burger Brigade came just in time", Buffy commented, getting her own food from the bag as well; Willow smiled and nodded, taking a big bite of the burger afterwards and rolling her eyes in theatrical delight.

"How can this stuff be bad for you, if it tastes so good?" she demanded to know once she had swallowed, making Buffy shrug in reply, the Slayer taking the time to munch down a few French fries before she responded. "It probably is bad for us because it does taste so good… That's the logic of food. Everything which is healthy tastes like cardboard or even worse."

"I guess so", Willow giggled, then fell silent as she fully focused on devouring her food, washing it down with big gulps of coke every now and then; Buffy did the same, and it didn't take long until the food was gone, the Slayer letting out a hearty burp before she covered her mouth and at least had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Ew", Willow still complained, giving her a mortified glance, "that was horrendous, Buffy… Is that your new way to fight vampires? Kill them with bad breath?"

"That'd be less exhausting than staking them, I guess", Buffy smirked, balling up the emptied paper bag and sending it into the trash can with an elegant flick of her wrist; knowing that she'd miss if she tried the same, Willow handed her the emptied bag which had contained her food, the paper ball Buffy formed of it ending up in the trash can a second later as well.

"Score", the redhead commented, making Buffy nod proudly and raise her fist in triumph; afterwards, they both giggled at each other, then just shared a moment of smiling at each other, enjoying each other's company and the friendship which connected them.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Unfortunately, the following chapter ended up a bit shorter than planned, but I hope you'll forgive me as I promise that the next one will be longer again.

* * *

Finally, it was eight p.m., leaving Willow with just another hour to pass until Pat would come to pick her up; already, she started going through her wardrobe, pondering what she should wear, not noticing how Buffy was watching her over the book she was holding, a slight smile on her face.

"Wardrobe troubles?" she finally asked, after another five minutes had passed during which the redhead just had been looking at her clothes; sighing, Willow nodded and turned to face her, giving her a miserable look.

"I know it's silly", she then sighed, a helpless smile appearing on her face while she shrugged, "but I want to look nice…"

"Let me help you", Buffy offered in response, putting down her book and getting up from the bed, moving over to stand beside her friend; she threw a critical look at her wardrobe, then reached into the cupboard and pulled a black pair of pants out, followed by one of the more revealing tops Willow owned, with a cleavage deep enough to give a good view of it, but not so deep that she'd end up looking cheap.

"There you go", she smiled, pushing the clothes into Willow's hands, "that'll look just perfect… Go and change!"

"Yes Ma'am", the redhead gave back with a smirk, deciding not to argue about the clothing Buffy had chosen, knowing that she'd only end up staring at her wardrobe again then; quickly, she made her way into the small bathroom, changing there before she put on some light make-up and brushed her hair, giving herself a critical look in the mirror afterwards.

Deciding that she looked fine, she returned to her room, throwing the clothes she had been wearing before on the bed; then, she turned to Buffy and asked her how she looked, the Slayer reassuring her that it was just perfect, causing her to let out a happy sigh while she let herself fall down on her bed, a frown appearing on her face when she checked her watch and saw that there still was half an hour to pass until it finally would be nine p.m..

"Wow, you're really looking forward to this", Buffy observed at the obvious impatience of her friend, a slight smile on her face which made it clear that she wasn't making fun of the redhead. "That's cute…"

"Let's hope Pat thinks the same, and doesn't think I'm some creepy needy person", the witch smirked in reply, making Buffy laugh and nod; afterwards, she picked up her book again while Willow just waited for the minutes to pass, pretending to read a book of her own, until it finally was time to go outside and meet her date for the evening.

* * *

To her delight, Pat arrived punctually, approaching her exactly at nine p.m. and giving her an admiring look that made her heart beat faster, the redhead making a mental note to herself that she had to thank Buffy for helping her with the clothing once she'd get back home.

"Hey", she greeted, momentarily feeling awkward as she wasn't sure how to greet the other woman, if any physical greeting would be welcome or if it'd be too early for that; then, the black haired woman saved her from making that decision by hugging her briefly, the touch sending shivers up and down her spine.

"Good to see you again", Pat stated once she had pulled back from the embrace, giving her a dazzling smile before she gestured at the paved way which would lead them out of the campus. "Ready to go?"

"Yup", Willow agreed, then decided to be daring for once by grasping the other woman's hand as they started walking; her heart seared up into the skies when Pat didn't pull back, but gave her fingers an affectionate squeeze, the redhead forcing herself to hold back the dreamy sigh which wanted to escape her in response.

"I've really been looking forward to this", she let the taller woman know after they had walked side by side in silence for a while; next to her, Pat smiled and nodded, giving her hand another gentle squeeze as she replied, once more sending shivers up and down Willow's spine and making her shiver. "So have I… I hope this won't freak you out now, but I was almost counting the hours."

"Me too", Willow admitted with a giggle, happy to hear that the feelings she was having about all of this were returned by her date. "I even had Buffy help me with my clothes because I wanted to look good", she added, making Pat chuckle in reply, the taller woman throwing her an amused glance afterwards.

"As if that would have been necessary", she then stated, practically undressing the redhead with her gaze, something Willow didn't mind much though. "I bet you'd look good in a potato sack…"

"Thanks, but I'd rather not test that theory", the witch giggled in reply; smirking, the black haired woman nodded her agreement, giving her another admiring look afterwards, making Willow ask herself if she was trying to figure out how her clothes would look on the floor of her bedroom.

"I just hope you won't gain the attention of every guy in that club, looking so amazing", Pat stated, her words making Willow blush brightly in response. "I'm selfish, I don't want to share you…"

"That's a good kind of selfish", the witch reassured her in reply, her cheeks still feeling hot as she looked up at the taller woman; for a few moments, the two just smiled at each other in silence, then Willow changed the topic from how desirable she might be to something which wouldn't make her blush all the time by asking her date what she had been doing during the day, before she had come to pick her up.

"Apart from counting the hours until nine p.m., you mean?" the taller woman demanded to know, making Willow giggle and nod; shrugging, Pat gave her another smile, moving her free hand up to run it through her hair while she responded, once more making Willow wonder how it'd feel to bury her hands in that hair.

"The usual stuff, I guess", she stated, not letting it show if she noticed anything of what was going on in Willow's brain, "studying a bit, trying to write one of my papers, with not much success though…"

"Tell me about it", the redhead immediately sighed out, causing the taller woman to give her hand another tender squeeze; once more, the two smiled at each other, the young witch feeling her heartbeat speed up once more at the smile of the other woman – and at how genuine it was, making it clear to her that Pat enjoyed her company as much as she was enjoying hers.


	11. Chapter 11

Once they had reached the Bronze, they quickly found an empty table, Willow promising that she'd defend it with her life – and, if necessary, the aid of her handbag – while Pat went to get them drinks; since the club wasn't all too full yet, it didn't take the black haired woman long to come up, carefully carrying two cups of beer as she made her way back to the table.

"There we go", she smiled as soon as she had sat down again, handing one of the cups to the redhead; smiling, Willow thanked her, then took a sip of the beer, her gaze never leaving the one of the woman sitting opposite of her.

"I'll buy the next round", she stated as soon as she had put the cup down again, shifting on the chair slightly to make herself more comfortable, "I'm starting to feel bad, with you inviting me all the time…"

"No need to", Pat shrugged in reply, giving her another dazzling smile as she spoke on, sending her heartbeat through the roof once more. "It's my pleasure…"

Suddenly feeling shy again, all Willow could do for a moment was give the other woman a slightly awkward smile, her hand trembling slightly when she moved it up to get a strand of hair out of her face; then, she cleared her throat and tried to regain control of the situation by asking the other woman which topics she had chosen for her papers, maybe not the best choice for Saturday evening conversation, but still better than just sitting there blushing and quiet. To her relief, her question helped to get the conversation going, and for the next one and a half hours, the two spoke about whatever came to their minds, moving from their papers to books they both had read and movies they both had seen; after a while, Willow didn't even notice anymore how time flew by, mesmerized by their talk and how well she seemed to be in tune with the other woman.

"Hey", Pat suddenly seemed to perk up, looking over her and at something in the background, "the pool table's free… Feel like having a game?"

"Oh, I don't know", Willow gave back, glancing over her shoulder and at the pool table anyway, "I'm not terribly good at that, you know… Every time I play with Buffy, she beats me!"

"Well, I've been told I'm quite good, I can teach you if you like", Pat offered in reply; after a moment, Willow nodded her agreement, not wanting to seem like a killjoy. Smiling at her, Pat rose from her seat a second later, the witch doing the same; they both grabbed their beer and made their over to the pool table, putting the cups on a table nearby before they picked up the cues and Pat placed the balls on the green felt, then gestured at the white one, giving Willow another dazzling smile. "You can start, if you want to…"

"I'm warning you, I'm really bad at this", the redhead gave back, making the other woman shrug; after another moment of hesitation, Willow finally moved to the edge of the table and carefully aimed, grimacing when despite how well she had tried to shoot the white ball, none of the coloured ones ended up in one of the holes.

"See?" she sighed, giving the taller woman a slightly embarrassed glance, "I told you I'm not good at this…"

"You know, you might be better if you held the cue the right way", Pat gave back, leaning her own cue against the table and moving closer to her, surprising her moments later by standing so close to her that their bodies touched, encircling her with both arms, making Willow wonder if this was what she had been after when she had suggested to play pool in the first place. "Here, let me show you…"

Even though Willow tried hard to concentrate, it was difficult to do so when the black haired woman took a gentle hold of her hands and readjusted them on the cue; she was so close to her that she could feel her breath on her cheek and her upper body against her back, her heart performing so many daring summersaults that she was afraid she might have a heart attack any moment.

"Alright", Pat mumbled, her lips dangerously close to the ear of the redhead, "try again now…"

To the great dismay of Willow, she moved back from her, giving her a chance to shoot again; she did so, her eyes widening when the ball she had aimed at ended up in the hole she had been aiming for, a happy squeal escaping her as she spun around so she was facing her date again. "I did it! Wow, thanks, that really helped…"

"I shouldn't have shown you then", Pat chuckled, already moving around the table and trying to figure out the best angle for her first shot, "you'll kick my ass now…"

"Nah", the redhead gave back, smiling while she watched the other woman aim, then shoot, the ball ending up where it was supposed to go, "you're still way better than me…"

"All you need is some practice", the other woman shrugged, moving around the table once more and skilfully making another ball drop into one of the holes; Willow just nodded in reply, too focused on watching her play to say anything, asking herself if she ever had seen anyone play pool so sexily – and if there was a way she could get the other woman so close to her again, her skin still tingling where she had felt Pat's breath on it.

* * *

After almost an hour of playing pool, the two returned to their table, sitting down there; just like when she played with Buffy, Willow had lost miserably again, but she didn't feel like complaining about it – after all, Pat had shown her several more times how to shoot properly, always by practically hugging her from behind, each time sending shivers up and down her spine.

"You know", she stated after they both had made themselves comfortable in their seats, "you must be dying for a cigarette by now… We've been here for quite some time, and I could need some fresh air, so…"

"That sounds like an awesome idea", the black haired woman immediately replied, making the witch giggle with her obvious need to have a smoke; smiling, she rose from her seat without another word, Pat doing the same after a moment, forcing Willow to hold back a sigh by grasping her hand again and holding it tenderly as they made their way to the door leading outside. Just like the first time they had met out there, no one else was around this time; Willow made herself comfortable by leaning against the wall next to the door while the other woman dug out her cigarettes and her lighter, the content sigh she let out after the first drag making the redhead giggle.

"Junkie", she then winked, Pat shrugging and giving her an apologetic look in reply; she took another drag of the cigarette, stuffing her free hand into the pocket of her pants while blowing a cloud of blue smoke up to the nightly sky, Willow watching her again with great interest – even though she never had thought highly of smoking, even that looked good when this woman was doing it.

"You know", Pat spoke up after just smoking in silence for a while, studying Willow the same way the redhead had been studying her, "I'm really glad that you accepted my invitation yesterday…"

"I was glad that you asked me out", Willow gave back, hoping that this would lead where she wanted it to. "I'm really enjoying myself…"

"So am I", the black haired woman agreed, finishing her cigarette and throwing it to the ground, putting it out by stepping on it; obviously, she wasn't keen on going back inside immediately though, as she merely moved a bit closer to Willow, until she stood right in front of her, forcing the redhead to look up at her again, something she didn't really mind though.

"Kinda funny, the two of us going out now, after those dirty looks you gave me when I took your favourite seat", Pat now smirked, making Willow let out an embarrassed giggle at that unpleasant memory – before she suddenly felt daring again, giving the other woman a mischief glance as she responded. "Going out, huh? Is this what we're doing here? We're on a date?"

"I'm hoping we are, or I just made a huge idiot out of myself", the black haired woman chuckled in reply, only to grow serious again a moment later, one of her hands coming up to gently cup Willow's cheek, the tender touch making the witch shiver. "Plus, I'll risk a slap with what I want to do next if this isn't a date", the taller woman mumbled, then bent down, her lips on Willow's moments later; for a second, the redhead thought that she had died and gone to Heaven, then regained enough of her sense to respond to the kiss, embracing the other woman without even noticing it fully and pulling her closer to herself.

She enjoyed the kiss until she ran out of air and was forced to pull back; still breathless, she looked up at the taller woman, her voice trembling just enough to let Pat notice when she spoke up, her words making her date smile slightly. "I'll only slap you if you don't kiss me again right now…"

Chuckling, the black haired woman tenderly caressed her hair in reply, then muttered "Don't want that to happen" before she kissed the witch once more; sighing into her mouth, Willow tightened her embrace on her once more, all thoughts forgotten as their kiss deepened, the only thing she could focus on being how good it felt to be held close by someone again and to share a kiss with someone.


	12. Chapter 12

"That was a perfect evening out", Willow stated another hour later, now standing in front of the dorm she lived in, holding hands with Pat again; they had kissed several more times on the way home, and by the time they had reached the dorm, she had felt as if she was floating over the pavement instead of walking.

"Indeed, it was", the taller woman now agreed, putting her arms around the redhead's waist and pulling her closer to herself. "We gotta repeat that some time… I know tomorrow's Sunday, but we could go on a coffee or something…?"

"I'd love to", Willow immediately replied, glad that Pat had asked – she was eager to meet her again as soon as possible, but hadn't dared to bring it up, not wanting to seem clingy to the other woman. "Pick me up at, oh, let's say, five?" she added, smiling when the taller woman nodded immediately; they looked at each for a few more seconds, then Pat let out a small sigh, gesturing at the dorm hall. "Well… Guess I better let you get inside, so you can get some sleep…"

"I guess so", Willow agreed with a sigh, "but I think I'll need a goodnight kiss before I can let you go…"

"I'll gladly satisfy that need", Pat smirked, then bent down to kiss her once more, embracing her tenderly as she did so; immediately, Willow returned the embrace and responded to the kiss, enjoying it as long as it lasted, her heart still sinking a bit when she had to pull back again if she didn't want to risk blacking out from lack of oxygen.

"I hope you'll sleep tight now", Pat mumbled, making her nod in reply; she let out a small, dreamy sigh, then forced herself to move out of the embrace, knowing that she'd end up standing her another hour if she didn't say goodbye now.

"I can't wait to see you tomorrow", she let the taller woman know, making her reassure her that she felt the same; then, she wished her a good night, Willow returning that wish before she finally made herself turn around and move inside the dorm hall, a happy sigh escaping her the moment the door had fallen close behind her. Holding back the urge to skip down the hallway, she made her way to the second floor, where the room she was sharing with Buffy was located; she wasn't surprised to see the Slayer still awake when she entered, the blonde woman sitting on her bed and devouring a box of cookies, a clear sign that the slaying had gone well – often, Buffy's sweet tooth would be wide awake afterwards, and she always satisfied it accordingly then.

"I assume patrolling went well?" Willow stated while she took off her shoes and jacket, then moved to her own bed and sat down on it; Buffy nodded with her mouth full, her eyes narrowing a second later as she took a closer look at the witch, a smile forming on her face moments later, the second she had swallowed the mouthful of cookies. "I assume your date went well too, seeing that you're grinning from ear to ear… Tell me about it, right now!"

Giggling, Willow wiggled her index finger at her in response, making herself comfortable on her bed by propping the pillow up against the headboard and leaning against it before she replied. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know…"

"But satisfaction brought it back", Buffy found it necessary to point out, making the witch giggle again before she gave her friend a mischief glance. "Well… I can tell you that I learned something new about Pat tonight…"

"Yes? What?" Buffy demanded to know, obviously getting impatient; moments later, her eyes widened as Willow replied, then a huge smile formed on her face. "She's an amazing kisser…"

"Wow", the Slayer gave back after a moment of being stunned into silence, "wow… I mean, that's great! You two really hit it off, huh?"

"Yeah", Willow replied, a dreamy sigh escaping her afterwards. "It was so romantic", she then added, looking up at the ceiling as she remembered the first kiss she had shared with the taller woman.

"We went outside so she could have a smoke", she retold the experience, Buffy listening with a small smile on her face. "Surprisingly, there was no one else around, so it was just her and me… We were bantering around a bit, and she made a comment about how it was funny that we're going out together after that dirty looks I gave her for taking my seat, so I asked her if that's what we're doing, and if this was a date… And then she said she hoped so, or that she might get slapped for what she'd do next, and just kissed me…"

"I assume you didn't slap her", Buffy giggled, the redhead giving her a mortified look in reply.

"Of course not", she then stated, giggling as well and shaking her head, another dreamy sigh following her words. "It was too good… I told her I'd slap her if she wouldn't kiss me again, though."

"I hope you didn't need to slap her then", Buffy smirked, making Willow shake her head again; the two friends grinned at each other, then the witch let out a hearty yawn, rubbing her eyes afterwards in an awfully cute and adorable way.

"I better get some sleep now, though", she stated as soon as her yawning had ended, "I'm awfully tired…"

"Are you sure you just kissed?" Buffy teased in reply, causing the redhead to give her an indignant look that was enough response, Willow not even dignifying this with a verbal answer, but merely changing into her pyjama. Giggling to herself, Buffy did the same, then put the cookies aside and stretched out on her bed; Willow still took the time to wish her a good night before she switched off the lamp on her nightstand and pulled the blanket over herself, drifting off into slumber quickly, a small smile forming on her face as she dreamed of a certain pair of bright blue eyes.

* * *

In the next morning, both Buffy and Willow slept in, since there was no need for either of them to get up early; as always when they just slumbered until they'd wake up on their own, Willow was the first one to open her eyes, a goofy grin appearing on her face the second after she had done so and had remembered how well the evening before had ended. Holding back a happy sigh, since she didn't want to wake Buffy up, the redhead got out of bed and made her way to the washroom, still in her pyjama; she met two other girls on the way, giving them such a hearty and friendly greeting that they both turned to look after her in surprise, something she didn't notice and something she would have ignored if she had.

Humming softly to herself, she quickly undressed once she had reached the shower room, readying a towel and her pyjama close to the shower stall – and briefly scolding herself for not bringing fresh clothes – before she stepped into the shower and turned on the water; after some fiddling with the regulators, the temperature was pleasant enough, and she closed her eyes as she relaxed beneath the hot flow of water, her thoughts once more returning to the evening before. Once more, she found herself slightly surprised at how fast all of this happened – not even a full week ago, she had been irritated by Pat for stealing her seat, and yesterday, they had ended up kissing outside the Bronze and several times on the way back to the dorm, after just a few days of knowing each other and practically after their first proper date.

Still, it didn't worry her anymore how fast all of this had happened; kissing the taller woman just had felt so good and so right that she couldn't help herself, but just had to cherish it, telling herself that Buffy had been right and that she deserved some happiness in her life again after all she had been through. While she washed her hair, she remembered how tenderly her date had caressed those red strands the evening before, a dreamy sigh escaping her at the memory; briefly, she wondered how her meeting with Pat later that day would be, then shrugged it off – it surely would be great, even if they'd just go to drink coffee and maybe eat cake.

Still with a dreamy smile on her face, she finished her shower routine and turned off the water, then reached out of the stall to grab her towel; quickly, she rubbed herself as dry as possible, tying her hair up into a loose ponytail before she put on her pyjama again and returned to her room, finding Buffy awake there by now, the Slayer sitting on her bed, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, sunshine", Willow greeted, giving her friend a toothy smile; Buffy responded with a grumpy look, not sounding all too awake when she spoke up. "Dunno if that morning is so good for me, but seems it is for you…"

"Of course it is", Willow cheerily replied, not letting the grumpiness of the Slayer rub off on her; she gave her another toothy smile, then opened her wardrobe and quickly chose fresh clothes, now worrying much less about what to wear, Pat's comment about how she'd look good in a potato sack coming up in her mind again while she got dressed.

"Maybe it'll also be for me, after some coffee", Buffy gave back, forcing herself out of bed; she yawned heartily again while she picked up her hygiene utensils, then told Willow that she'd be right back before she left the room, Willow looking after her for a moment with a smile on her face before she let herself fall down on her bed and let out another happy sigh, already counting the hours until it'd be five p.m., once more sure that everything would work out just fine.


	13. Chapter 13

During the next three weeks, Willow had the chance to find out that everything was working out the way she had hoped it would; she met Pat practically daily outside classes and always ended up sitting next to her during the lectures, enjoying every moment she could spend with the taller woman. Since her friends already had met her once, there was no need to introduce her again, even though Willow did tell them that they were dating; this brought surprised, but happy reactions from everyone except Buffy, Anya thankfully holding herself back with any snarky comments which might have popped into her head.

The only thing which bothered Willow about all of this was the fact that so far, Pat had no idea about Buffy and who she was, and the obligations caused for the redhead by the fact she was best friends with the Vampire Slayer; Giles had advised her to keep it secret for a bit longer, until she could be sure that everything would stay as fine as it was right now and that Pat knowing about Buffy wouldn't endanger what she had to do night after night.

_Maybe this will be taken care of when we'll run into some vampires or something, _the redhead thought to herself now, three and a half weeks after her first date with the black haired woman, as she got ready for dinner out with her newfound partner. _Then Buffy can rescue us and she'll know… Or I could blast them away with some spell and she'd know I'm a witch. _

The thought made her giggle to herself while she put on a pair of earrings, the mental image of her blasting some vampires to Hell and the look Pat might have on her face then amusing her greatly; from her place on the bed, Buffy threw her a curious look over the book she was reading, but didn't make a comment – after all, the redhead smiling and giggling for no obvious reason had been a sight she had gotten used to during the last few weeks.

"Already know where Pat's gonna take you?" she thus asked instead, smiling at Willow when she turned to look at her; shaking her head, the redhead finishing fumbling with her earrings and gestured at herself, giving Buffy a curious look afterwards. "No, but she said it's casual… Think I can wear this?"

"Sure", the Slayer gave back after briefly looking her over, "that's just fine for casual… And it's not as if it matters much what you wear, she won't be able to take her eyes off of you anyway."

At this, Willow giggled and nodded; during the last few weeks, whenever Pat and she had happened to be with her friends during their times out, they all had commented on how cute the two were together afterwards and how obviously the black haired woman was doting on her, practically fulfilling her every wish and almost carrying her on her hands.

"You know", the redhead now stated, moving over to her bed and sitting down on it, her legs crossed beneath her, "sometimes I wonder what she sees in me, to make her treat me that way… It's almost too good to be true."

"Aw, come on", Buffy gave back, getting up from her bed and moving to sit next to her friend, "don't think that way… You're cute, pretty, smart and caring, and wonder what she's seeing in you? She's just got an enormous crush on you, and with good reason, if I might say so."

"You know, if you keep talking like that, I'll start thinking that _you're_ having a crush on me, too", Willow giggled, making the Slayer smirk at her; the knock coming from the door kept her from making a witty comeback though, her smirk turning into a hearty smile when immediately, Willow jumped up from her bed.

"That's her", she mouthed towards Buffy, straightening her clothes once more before she made her way to the door and opened it; as expected, Pat stood in front of it, smiling down on the smaller Willow before she greeted her with an innocent, but tender kiss, Buffy watching the scene with her smile never leaving her face.

"Hi, Buffy", the taller woman called out to her after the kiss, the Slayer returning the greeting by giving her a cute little wave; Pat smiled briefly at her, then focused on Willow again, giving the blonde woman a chance to see how her eyes lit up the moment her gaze fell on her friend. "Ready to go?"

"As ready as one can be", Willow gave back, grasping her hand; she looked back at Buffy and called out "Bye, Buffy!", making Pat do the same, the Slayer chuckling to herself the moment they were gone as she realized that "Hi Buffy" and "Bye Buffy" had been all Pat had said to her, shaking her head while she made herself comfortable on her bed again, still smiling as she picked up her book once more, happy for how well things were working out for her friend.

* * *

"Wow, the food at that place was really good", Willow stated almost two hours later as she walked away from the restaurant with her date beside her, the two women holding hands again as they strolled down the sidewalk, without really caring where they were going. "Even though I really start to feel bad about you paying for me all the time by now…"

"Don't worry about it", the taller woman gave back, smiling at her briefly – before she used her free hand to dig out her cigarettes, taking the chance now given for a smoke, since the restaurant had been non-smoking. To Willow's amusement, she managed to get one of them of the pack and to light it up without letting go of her hand; after the first drag and the content look of satisfied addiction had appeared on her face, she looked down on the redhead again, a mischief sparkle in her eyes as she spoke up. "Don't worry, I brought minty chewing gum…"

"Good to know", Willow winked, shrugging a moment later as Pat asked her where she wanted to go now. "I just know I don't want to go home yet", she stated, smiling up at the taller woman and squeezing her hand affectionately. "I'd rather spend more time with you…"

"Same here", Pat smiled, scratching the back of her head afterwards, the awkward gesture making Willow giggle slightly. "Well… I hope you won't think I'm trying to push things or something but… We could go to my place, I think I still got some wine at home, and some potato chips…"

"Sure", Willow immediately agreed, the mischief sparkle in her eyes now as she looked up at the taller woman. "Wine, huh? I hope you're not planning to get me drunk so you can do… indecent things to me…"

"Never ever", the taller woman immediately gave back, moving her hand to her heart and giving the redhead a melodramatic look. "Big swear."

"What a pity", Willow giggled in reply, causing the other woman to stare at her for a few moments, speechless – before she laughed as well, shaking her head and raising her eyebrow at the witch. "Wow… I'm discovering unknown sides of you here. Maybe I should be afraid that _you'll_ try to do indecent things to _me_."

"It's only indecent if you don't like it", Willow smirked, making her date laugh once more; afterwards, they stopped walking to exchange a brief kiss, then continued their way down the sidewalk together, reaching the apartment building where Pat was living shortly afterwards.

* * *

"Wow", Willow stated as she entered the surprisingly large apartment, looking around with round eyes, "what a nice place… How can you afford that? Did you win in the lottery or something?"

"Nope", Pat gave back while she took off her jacket and hung it on the coat hanger next to the door, "inheritance… That's why I can also afford to invite you all the time!"

"Ooooh, so you're rich", Willow smirked, taking off her shoes before she let Pat lead her into the living room, taking a seat on the couch there and looking around the room. "Good to know…"

"So you'll exploit me for my money now?" the black haired woman smiled, raising her voice so she'd still be heard as she made her way into the kitchen to get the wine and the glasses. "Should have known that my good looks won't be enough for someone as perfect as you…"

"They are for now", Willow reassured her, getting up from the couch and moving to one of the shelves which lined the wall behind her, "but once you'll grow old, I'll be after your money… At least you can't say I wasn't honest!"

"Indeed", she heard Pat chuckle from the kitchen, smiling to herself before she checked out the books; most of them were scientific, about the stuff she was being taught in college, a few novels stuffed in between. As she let her gaze wander over the book backs, a thin leather string hanging out between two of them caught her eye; curiously, she pulled it out, raising an eyebrow when she saw the pendant dangling from it. Even though she wasn't sure why, it seemed strangely familiar to her; before she could start digging through her memories though, she heard Pat coming back from the kitchen, and without thinking much about it, Willow stuffed the piece of jewellery into her pocket, making it vanish there just in time before her date returned.

"There we go", the black haired woman smiled, obviously not having a clue about what Willow just had done, merely handing her a glass of red wine and giving her another dazzling smile before she gestured at the book case. "Checking out my books, I see… Anything interesting in there you want to borrow?"

"I'd need to have another look to decide", Willow gave back, taking a sip of her wine afterwards, smiling at the other woman as she spoke on once she had swallowed, her voice showing nothing about what she just had done. "But now I got something much better to look at…"

"You do?" Pat gave back, feigning ignorance; smiling, Willow nodded, then stepped up to her and kissed her deeply, trying to push the thoughts of the pendant out of her brain – something which wasn't easy though, as it kept coming back, the feeling that she had seen it somewhere before and that this was important nagging at the back of her mind constantly.


	14. Chapter 14

Since Willow didn't return to the dorm that night, she only saw Buffy in the next day, when they met for lunch; the look the Slayer gave her as they met was enough to make her blush and clear her throat, this reaction in turn being enough for Buffy to know where she had been last night.

"You know, I was a bit worried when you didn't come home", the Slayer teased while she loaded food on her tray, chuckling when the redhead blushed even deeper in reply, "but seeing how red your cheeks are, I guess I can stop being worried now…"

"Yup", Willow gave back, clearing her throat afterwards – before she gave Buffy an accusing look, making the Slayer raise both eyebrows at her. "But I think I've spent too much time around you", she clarified the reason for her glare, moving through the crowd to one of the few still free tables, sitting down and making herself comfortable before she spoke on. "I'm seeing supernatural stuff wherever I go, it seems… And I did something silly last night…"

"What?" Buffy demanded to know, making the witch sigh before she reached into her pocket and produced the pendant she had found, another sigh coming from her when Buffy took it from her.

"I found that in Pat's bookshelf, hidden between two books", she explained, "and to be honest, I'm not even sure why I took it… It just seemed familiar…"

"It does", Buffy gave back, surprising and worrying her – if something like this was familiar to Buffy, it usually was connected to vampires, demons, or worse. "You know", the Slayer went on after studying the pendant for a while, choosing her words carefully, "I think that by now, you've had enough experience with all the stuff going on here that you can trust your instincts… This was probably what made you take that thing along. Maybe you should take it to Giles and have it checked there…"

"And feel stupid and bad for taking it when it turns out to be nothing", Willow sighed out, accepting the pendant though and putting it back into her pocket; she had to admit though that Buffy probably was right with what she had said about her heightened instincts about supernatural stuff – after years of being friends with the Slayer, it would have been rather strange if a thing or two hadn't rubbed off on her.

"But yeah, you're right", she thus added, giving her friend a lopsided smile, "I'll better let Giles have a look at it… Just so he can tell me that it's some silly talisman from the local souvenir store, or something."

Nodding, Buffy gave her a reassuring smile, then picked up her sandwich and took a large bite out of it; Willow mimicked her a second later, suddenly eager to finish her remaining classes so she could get to Giles and have this cleared up.

* * *

During the classes she shared with Pat, Willow kept what she had done to herself, for some reason she couldn't quite figure out not wanting to simply ask her lover about what she had found in her apartment; this worried her, since she didn't want to add another secret to the ones she already had, but still she figured that it was just another instinct which told her to keep quiet about this, and thus kept her mouth shut, not letting it show to Pat that something was bothering her. If the black haired woman noticed anything, she didn't ask Willow about it, merely asking her how lunch had been and if Buffy was doing alright; they had some more mindless small talk between lessons, until the last one finally had ended and she could leave the campus to make her way to Giles' and have the pendant checked.

As she made her way to the bus station, Buffy caught up to her, offering her to come along; giving her a grateful smile, Willow nodded, suddenly heavily worried what she might find out at Giles' place.

"I'm sure it'll be alright", the Slayer tried to calm her down as they waited for the bus, giving her friend's shoulder a reassuring pat; Willow let out a sigh in reply, then gave her a miserable look, the expression on her face waking the urge to hug her tightly within Buffy. "But what if it won't be? I told you it's too good to be true, and when I saw that thing in her apartment, I don't know… It seemed so familiar, and not in a good way…"

"We'll find out as soon as we're at Giles'", Buffy gave back, smiling reassuringly at her afterwards. "And I'm sure everything will work out fine… Don't you think I would have noticed if something had been a bit off about her?"

"I guess so", Willow had to admit, holding back a snarky comment about how Buffy hadn't noticed that something had been a bit off with Riley; the Slayer gave her another reassuring smile, then gestured down the street, where the bus just was rounding the corner.

"Here's the bus", she stated the obvious, smiling at Willow once more afterwards, "in ten minutes, we'll be at Giles' home, and then you'll see that everything is just fine and that this is just some silly little talisman."

Nodding bravely, Willow made herself return the smile while the bus stopped next to them and the doors opened; they climbed inside, sitting down at the first free seats they encountered, the redhead looking out of the window quietly as the bus drove off, her heart once more filled with worry and fear about what they might find out once they'd arrived at Giles' home.

* * *

After Willow had explained to Giles what she had brought along, why she had brought it along and that she wanted to know if he had anything about it in his books, the elder man responded by removing several books from his shelves and sitting down at the table with them; he gave Willow a strict look while he opened the first one of them and started to leaf through it, his voice having its typical dry sound when he spoke up. "I hope that, if we find out that this is nothing special, you'll be aware of the fact that you'll have to confess to the woman you took it from and admit that this was a silly thing to do."

"Aw, come on, Giles", Buffy threw in before Willow had the chance to reply anything, "what's with you, you slept bad or something? You know that we can trust her instincts about such things, she's a witch after all, she's supposed to recognize harmful pendants if they dangle around in front of her eyes…"

"You're right", Giles replied after considering her words for a second, giving Willow an apologetic look. "I assume I owe you an apology…"

"Just tell me that my instincts were wrong and that this is just some cheap, non-magical talisman or something…", Willow sighed out in reply, throwing another dismayed look at the pendant.

"Give me a moment", Giles gave back, now focusing on the first book he had opened from the stack he had chosen; after watching him for a minute, Willow grabbed one as well and started leafing through it, her heart beating faster as she looked at the various symbols and talismans the printed pages were showing. Next to her, Buffy grasped one of the books as well and started going through it; for a while, the room was silent, then the Slayer spoke up, the sound of her voice immediately showing Willow that something was wrong. "Uh-oh…"

"What?" the witch forced herself to ask after a moment of silence, her voice trembling just enough to let Buffy and Giles notice; with a worried look, Buffy turned the book she was holding around so Willow could look at it. Gulping, the redhead looked at the page where Buffy had stopped going through the book; in the upper right corner, an exact picture of the pendant she had found was shown, the words printed beneath it making her heart skip a beat, her eyes widening as she read them, not able to believe that this could be true.

* * *

"Well", Giles spoke up after just watching the witch sniffle and sob in helpless silence for a while, "maybe this still can be cleared up… I mean, that she had this doesn't mean that…"

"I don't think so", Willow interrupted him, looking up at him with such a miserable expression in her eyes that it nearly broke his heart; he reached into his pocket and brought out a tissue, handing it to her while next to her, Buffy was rubbing her upper arm soothingly, her arm around the shoulders of the redhead. "Why would she have a badge of rank of some big demon boss if she wasn't working for him? I knew this was too good to be true, too perfect…"

"You know what?" Buffy spoke up before Giles had the chance to say anything, "we should go to her place right now and confront her about this… Then you'll know for sure..."

"No", Willow declined, still rising from her seat though and grasping the pendant, surprising Buffy with what she said next. "I'll go there alone…"

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea", Giles carefully replied, throwing Buffy a look that practically ordered her to agree with him, "I mean, if your girlfriend really is a demon, it might be dangerous to face her alone…"

"I'm a powerful witch", Willow gave back, the sudden cold sound of her voice making both Giles and Buffy swallow heavily. "If she tries anything… Well, you know what I'm capable off."

And with those words, she grabbed her handbag and marched off, before Giles or Buffy had the chance to say anything; they remained where they were, stunned, while Willow left the house and slammed the door close to herself, her feelings of sadness and betrayal turning into brighter anger with every step she took.


	15. Chapter 15

"Care to explain this to me?" Willow snapped half an hour later, slamming the pendant down on the table in front of a surprised Pat; she had found the black haired woman at her home, as she had expected, and even though Buffy had followed her after she had snapped out of her shock about the redhead's behaviour, Willow had made her wait downstairs, eager to face the taller woman alone, the Slayer now straining her ears in a vain attempt to hear if her friend was endangering herself.

"Wait, let me rephrase that question", the redhead now continued, before Pat had a chance to say anything. "Care to explain to me why you have a badge of rank from one of the bigger demons around? And don't give me any flak about how I found that!"

"Um", the black haired woman gave back, obviously at a loss for words, "well…"

Crossing her arms, Willow waited for her to speak on, giving her a glare that would have sent anyone who knew about her powers running; gulping, the black haired woman took the time to light up a cigarette, her voice trembling just enough to let Willow notice when she finally continued. "I guess I don't need to ask how you found that, but… I can explain…"

"I'm waiting", the redhead gave back, another glare following her words; obviously dreadfully nervous now, Pat took another drag of her cigarette before she spoke on, finding hard to meet Willow's gaze as she confessed. "Look, you're right, I am working for this guy… or was… and he's not the first one I've worked for. I guess I am what you'd call an assassin, only in a more… well, demonic way."

"So you are a demon", Willow stated, her anger suddenly vanishing into thin air as it was replaced by deep sadness at the betrayal she now truly was facing. "Is this why you got close to me? To be close to Buffy, so you can get rid of her for that guy? You know who she is, and it's her you're after, right?"

"That was the initial plan", Pat muttered after a few moments of silence, giving the other woman a helpless look afterwards. "But, Willow… Please, you have to believe me… What we did… What we have, or had… That wasn't just acting… You really mean something to me…"

"Yeah, sure", Willow gave back, suddenly feeling close to tears again, forcing herself to hold them back though, not wanting to cry in front of her. "You at least should know me well enough by now to figure out I'm too smart to fall for that…"

She took in a deep breath to calm herself down, then gestured at the door, her voice cold and controlled again as she spoke on. "I suggest you pack your stuff and get moving… Even though you lied to me and betrayed me, you still mean something to me, and I'll ask Buffy not to kick your ass from here to next Sunday right now, but to give you a chance to leave town… It's not like you can fulfil your assignment anymore, right?"

"Willow, don't", Pat pleaded in response, getting up from the couch and moving closer to the witch; when she reached out to touch her though, one glare from the redhead was enough to make her freeze, ice cubes practically falling from Willow's lips as she replied. "Don't. Touch. Me. And don't try to feed me any more of your lies. I'm best friends with the Vampire Slayer, I know that your kind doesn't have that kind of feelings, so don't pretend that you do…"

And with those words, she turned around and marched off, slamming the door close behind herself; she managed to hold herself together until she reached the exit of the building, where Buffy was waiting, the worried look on her friends face being enough to send her over the edge, the tears she had been successfully holding back in Pat's apartment starting to roll down her cheeks while she practically collapsed in Buffy's arms.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Willow hid away in the dorm room, lying on her bed and cuddling with her pillow; she had meant it when she had said that she still cared for the black haired woman, knowing that she wouldn't be able to switch off her feelings from one second to the other, the thought of now living for God knew how long with that pain of betrayal and being used making her shudder every now and then.

"I know there's not much I can say to make you feel better", Buffy stated after just letting her grieve in silence for a while, "but… If you want to talk, or just need a hug…"

"I can't believe I've been so stupid", Willow mumbled in reply, after a few moments of silence; by now, her tears had stopped, but she knew that she might start crying again any second, her heart feeling as if it had been torn into a thousand pieces.

"It was too good to be true, just as I said", she went on, sniffling briefly before she continued, Buffy just remaining quiet, knowing she had to get it out of her system. "The way she… came outside at the Bronze, when I wasn't feeling well, and how we talked… And how she behaved towards me afterwards… The constant compliments and everything, all that… Just lies to get close to me, and through me, to you…"

"Don't be too hard on yourself", Buffy finally spoke up as well, moving closer to her friend and taking her into her arms tenderly. "There was no way you could have known… Even I didn't figure it out, I was sure she's head over heels in love with you!"

"She actually tried to convince me she is", Willow muttered, a small, bitter chuckle escaping her afterwards. "Yeah, right… As if a demon would fall in love with anyone…"

Wisely, Buffy didn't mention the fact that a certain, platinum haired demon had fallen in love with her, knowing it would only upset Willow now; thus, she just nodded, caressing her friend's hair tenderly when the redhead moved slightly so her head ended up in Buffy's lap.

"It'll be alright", the Slayer let her know after a few moments of silence, knowing that this just sounded like hollow words to Willow right now, but not having a clue what else she could say. "You'll be alright… Really…"

In response, the redhead only let out another sniffle, remaining silent; tenderly, Buffy went on with caressing her hair, silently vowing to herself that she'd kill Pat without qualms if she'd ever get near her best friend again.

* * *

Even though Buffy hated the thought of leaving Willow alone in her current vulnerable state, she knew that she had to do, her nightly patrol duties waiting for her; she asked the redhead if she wanted to come along, not surprised when Willow declined, giving her a tiny smile at the worried look the Slayer gave her.

"Don't worry", she mumbled, sitting up on the bed and making shooing gestures at her, "I'll be fine, I won't do anything silly… Just sit here and be sad Willow for a while. You go and kick some vampire asses…"

"Alright", Buffy gave in after a few moments, giving her friend a hopefully reassuring smile. "I'll be back as fast as possible, okay?"

"Okay", Willow agreed, lying down again while Buffy picked up her patrol bag and slung it over her shoulder; she promised once more that she wouldn't be gone for long, then turned and left, the redhead just remaining on the bed and staring at the wall after she was gone, asking herself how long it would take for the pain to stop.

* * *

During the next few days, Willow had to force herself to get out of bed every morning and to go to her lessons; several times, she accompanied Buffy during patrol at night, eager to take her mind off Pat and how much the black haired woman still meant to her, despite her lies and her betrayal. It was as if the taller woman had been swallowed by the face of the earth after Willow had found out about her; she didn't show up at the campus anymore, and when Buffy had checked her apartment, it had been empty, all personal possessions of the demon gone.

"Well, I guess she can't assassinate anyone if the target knows she's an assassin", Anya pointed out when the Slayer told Xander, Giles and her about this, as tactless as ever; glad that Willow wasn't around this time, Buffy glared at the ex-demon, telling her to make sure she didn't talk like that when the redhead was around.

"You know, that's such a bummer", Xander muttered after the Slayer had finished telling the whole story, "we were all so happy for Willow, and now this? Talk about a bad choice for a relationship…"

"Well, she didn't know", Giles pointed out, "and the… masquerade, or human form, of that demon was good enough to fool all of us… Even you, Buffy, and you, Anya."

"Unfortunately", Buffy sighed out, shaking her head to herself afterwards. "We would have saved Willow a lot of pain if we had… You should see her, she's devastated."

"No surprise", Xander muttered, only to light up again a second later. "We should do something with her to take her mind off that… Take her out to the Bronze or something…"

"That didn't work when she was grieving for Tara, and it won't work now", Anya gave back, shaking her head. "Jeez, honey… You really need to learn more about that kind of stuff."

"I got you to teach me, don't I", Xander shrugged, to everyone's relief dropping the idea of forcing a night of going out on Willow; Buffy briefly shuddered at the thought of Anya teaching Xander anything about human interaction, then shrugged it off as Giles asked her if she had encountered anything unusual during her patrols lately, making her shake her head, her mind never quite leaving Willow and not allowing her to stop wondering how her friend was doing at the moment.


	16. Chapter 16

At the same time, Willow was getting dressed for a walk, suddenly not able to just sit around in the dorm room anymore; she knew that taking nightly walks through Sunnydale wasn't exactly a smart thing to do, but kept telling herself that she could handle any vampires coming at her, with the ability to just blast them into pieces if they annoyed her too much. Thus, she didn't let any demonic creatures prowling the nightly streets stop her; keeping her gaze focused on the ground, she left the dorm room and the building it was located in, walking off the campus not too long afterwards and strolling through the quiet streets, a soft sigh escaping her every now and then as she thought of the times she had walked those streets with Pat.

Without even fully noticing it, she let her footsteps carry her towards the Bronze, to the place where she had shared her first kiss with the other woman; she still couldn't believe that all of this had been faked from Pat's side, that the warm smiles and loving looks the taller woman had given her had been nothing but a good act to lull her in and to get close to Buffy.

"Look whom we have here", a vaguely familiar voice suddenly called out, tearing her out of her thoughts and causing her to stop and to turn around, the young woman feeling like holding back a sigh when she recognized one of the regulars of the Bronze, another guy who often hung out there with him standing beside him, the two guys leering at her.

_Well, at least they aren't vampires, _she thought to herself, trying to fight back the slight unease she felt at the way the two were looking at her.

"If this isn't that cunt licker we've been seeing around here so much lately", the one who had called to her now stated, causing her eyes to widen – before anger filled her, along with disbelief at how rude this guy actually was.

"Excuse me? What did you just call me?" she demanded to know, crossing her arms; the two guys chuckled, then the other, smaller one spoke up, his eyes glistening in a way Willow didn't like at all. "Where's your girlfriend, huh? If she's around, you could give us a little show…"

"In your dreams", the witch snapped in reply, then turned away from the guys and started to walk off; seconds later, she heard their footsteps behind him, her anger now turning back to unease as she sped up her steps.

"Hey, wait", the taller one called after her, his footsteps hurrying up as well, "it's not polite to just walk out of a conversation like that…"

He took a few fast long steps to end up beside her, then grasped her arm; twirling around, she glared at him, holding back the urge to blast him into the next wall, telling herself that she couldn't harm a human with her powers, not again.

"We got an offer for you", he went on, now openly ogling her, his eyes practically glued to her chest. "We'll show you what it's like to be with a real man, then you'll never waste another thought on that girl again…"

"Let go of me!" she demanded in response, struggling to free herself, with the only avail that he tightened his grip on her, his friend now reaching them as well – and shocking her by grasping a handful of her hair, making her cry out in pain.

"Let me go!" she almost pleaded now, fighting hard to keep the panic out of her voice, to no avail though; the two guys just chuckled in reply, only to fall silent in a surprise when all too well known voice came up behind them. "I suggest you do as she says, or things might get painful."

"Oh, look, it's the girlfriend", the smaller one sneered instead of doing as he had been told, halfway turning away from Willow so he could look at Pat, a nasty glint in his eyes now.

"You better get out of here", he went on, the redhead crying out once more behind him when his buddy gave her hair another harsh tug, "or you'll be next… We're not all too fond of your kind here…"

"Of my kind", Pat echoed, a smirk slowly forming on her face afterwards, somehow making her look even more menacing than she would have had with a serious expression. "Interesting choice of words… Because _my_ kind tends to eat _your_ kind for breakfast."

"Normal guys, you mean? In your dreams", the taller guy snarled, the smirk on the face of the black haired woman widening slightly before she responded with just two words, but enough to make both men reconsider what they were doing. "No. Humans."

* * *

"What the fuck are you talking—" the taller one of the guys started, only to fall quiet in horror when seconds later, the hands of the black haired woman burst into flames, without apparently hurting her.

"Let go of her", she snarled, her voice significantly deeper, a red glow shining from her eyes; surprisingly fast, the two guys hurried to obey her, then turned and ran off without another look, obviously scared enough to not even think about trying anything else. For a few seconds, Pat stared after them, her teeth grit; then, the flames vanished into nothingness, smoke curling from her fingers while her eyes returned to their normal colour, filled with worry as she turned to look at Willow, the redhead straightening her clothes and running both hands through her hair. "Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No", Willow gave back, her voice still shaking slightly as she couldn't help but wonder but how close she had been to getting raped, "well, the one who thought it'd be a good idea to pull my hair did, a bit, but…"

She trailed off, swallowing heavily as she once more was looking into those amazing blue eyes; still she tried not to let any of those feelings show as she spoke up again, successfully keeping her emotions out of her voice. "What are you still doing here? Still after Buffy?"

"Nope", Pat gave back with a sigh, raising her hands before Willow could snap at her. "Honest… They know my cover's been blown, I'm off the job…"

"Then why are you still here?" the witch demanded to know, crossing her arms, giving her best to appear indifferent; the other woman sighed in reply, then threw her a slightly sour look, mimicking her by crossing her arms over her chest as well. "You know, you could at least thank me for saving you…"

"Thanks", Willow replied dryly, gesturing down the road afterwards, once more giving her best to sound cold and uncaring as she continued. "But I think it'd be best if you'd just leave me alone now… Just in case you didn't get the message the last time we talked, I'm really not keen on seeing you around here anymore…"

"I just wish you'd listen to me", Pat muttered in reply, a heavy sigh escaping her afterwards, "but I guess that won't happen anytime soon…"

"Make that never", Willow snapped in response, hoping with every fibre of her heart that the black haired woman finally would turn and leave, knowing that if this went on longer, she wouldn't be able to hold her feelings back anymore – and not having an idea what she might do then.

"Fine", the other woman sighed out after a few seconds, giving her such a defeated look afterwards that it made her heart clench up, "it's not like I don't understand you… But…"

"Oh, how cute", a third voice suddenly interrupted them, causing them both to turn their heads, Willow involuntarily letting out a shriek when she saw the creature standing a few meters away, the hairy, misshapen thing grinning at them and showing dangerously long, sharp teeth.

"I hate to interrupt this sweet scene", the demon went on, looking from Willow to Pat and then back at the witch, "but I have business with this fiery one here, so if you'll excuse us…"

"Run", Pat brought out all of a sudden, making Willow look at her in shock as she realized that, after the two thugs had been scared away, the real danger might just be starting now.

"Willow, I'm not kidding… Run away!" the black haired woman now urged her on, giving her a glare; the demon who had interrupted them let out a little laugh, then suddenly launched himself forward, the witch letting out a shriek again as he realized that he was just about to tackle her – when Pat threw herself in his way, crashing into him and ending up on the ground with him.

"Run away I said!" she snapped, and even though her powers could have stopped that monster easily, the redhead did as she had been told, turning around and running off, trying to shut her ears to the noises of fighting she could hear behind herself, asking herself what was going on there – and why the black haired woman would be attacked by one of her own kind.


	17. Chapter 17

When she made it back to her dorm room safely, she was so out of breath that she was close to passing out; now that the events of the evening started to sink in, she began to shake, to make things even worse, and all she could do was slide down at the door and gasp for air, glad that Buffy wasn't back from patrol yet and thus couldn't ask her what was going on. Once she had regained her breath enough to stand up, she did so, making her way to the bed on still shaky legs; panting heavily, she let herself fall down on it, closing her eyes momentarily as she thought of the demon that had attacked Pat and her and couldn't help but wonder if the black haired woman had survived.

Rolling over, she curled up and held the pillow close to herself again, cursing herself for feeling this way; still she couldn't help it, her mind circling around how the taller woman had rescued her from those two thugs and how she had kept the demon of grabbing her and doing God knew what to her afterwards. Even though she had witness a part of the demonic powers Pat possessed, she still couldn't bring herself to think of her as a demon; to her, demons were ugly, nasty creatures, like the one that had tried to attack her, and not tall, handsome women with amazing blue eyes…

_Oh Gosh, stop thinking about her like that! _she scolded herself once she realized in which direction her thoughts were going; shaking her head, as if she could shake those thoughts out that way, she sat up on the bed, taking in another deep breath before she got up, her legs still feeling a bit wobbly – even though she had known Buffy for quite some time now, she never had gotten this close to being raped by two thugs and then eaten by a demon in the same night.

Realizing how thirsty she was, she made her way to the small fridge which was part of the dorm room and opened it, getting out a bottle of apple juice; moments later, she nearly dropped it as a knock came from the door and made her jump, briefly making her wonder if this was some other sort of monster now, out to maim her or have her as a midnight snack. Swearing to herself that, if this was something unpleasant, she'd unleash all her Wicca anger on it, she made her way to the door and almost tore it open, her breath getting stuck in her throat when she saw who stood in front of it.

"I'm sorry", Pat panted out, looking at her with her glasses hanging quite askew on her face, one of the frame sides broken; the rest of her didn't look all too good either, her clothes torn in places, green and red liquid covering her hands and most of her forearms, some splatters on the remains of her clothing as well. "I know you don't want me around anymore, but I have no idea where else to go… And… To be honest, I'm not feeling all… too well…"

Even though she had been leaning heavily on the door frame as she had been speaking, it seemed as if the support this had been giving her hadn't been enough; she let out a groan as her knees gave in beneath her, Willow catching her just in time to keep her from falling to the ground.

"Jeez", she brought out, not sure what else to say, her eyes widening when she saw blood drip to the floor, suddenly realizing what the red stuff on the other woman's clothing was.

"That green stuff's the demon's blood, right?" she asked to clarify as she helped Pat into the room and made her sit down on the bed, crouching in front of her, all her anger about her suddenly forgotten as she realized that the other woman might be seriously hurt. "And that red stuff is yours… Where did he hurt you? Let me have a look at it…"

In response, Pat carefully peeled her shirt away from the skin, then moved it upwards; involuntarily, the witch gasped as her gaze fell on the three shockingly long and deep gashes in her side, running all the way from her waist over her stomach to her navel.

"Some fighter I am, huh", the black haired woman mumbled while Willow took a closer look at the wounds, "first time I go up against one of my kind and I nearly get my bowels ripped ou_ooooowww!" _

Startled at her outcry, Willow quickly pulled her hand back from where she had been feeling the skin close to the wounds, giving her an apologetic look; in response, Pat glared at her, obviously not all too happy about what she had done.

"What the Hell are you doing?" she snapped, letting the shirt drop back down, "trying to finish what that demon started?"

"Sorry", Willow apologized, "I was just trying to figure out how deep those cuts are… If you should go to the hospital…"

"No way I'll go to the hospital here", Pat immediately gave back, sounding so mortified that all Willow could do was look up at her in surprise. "So they can figure out I'm not human and stick me in some lab? I know it happened here before, so no way."

"The Initiative's not working around here anymore", Willow responded automatically, then fell silent and gave the other woman an intense look, making her shift uncomfortably on the bed she was sitting on. "Wait, you know about that? What else do you know about this town?"

"Everything", Pat sighed out after a moment of silence, her pain seemingly forgotten as she gave Willow an apologetic glance. "About Buffy, about the fact that Anya's an ex-demon… The various demons Buffy's defeated so far… And, well… About Tara…"

"This was why you chose me, right", Willow replied flatly, all her energy suddenly gone as she slumped back to the ground, not even enough strength left within her to feel angry. "Because I'd be vulnerable after… losing her…"

"I guess so", Pat muttered, a heavy sigh escaping her afterwards, the look she gave Willow so miserable that it touched the redhead despite her tries not to let this happen. "But… Really, you don't understand…"

"I don't understand what?" the redhead gave back, some of her anger coming back as she looked up at the other woman, giving her another glare. "You expect me to understand that you just wanted to use me to kill my best friend, and chose me because I lost the woman I loved? Well, that won't happen, and I…"

"No!" the taller woman suddenly snapped at her, standing up with unexpected strength and force, making Willow flinch back from her – before she watched in astonishment how the demon started pacing the room, her wounds obviously forgotten, at least for the moment.

"You don't understand", she repeated, running both hands through her hair and making her glasses fall to the ground, where they laid unnoticed. "You were right when you said that my kind doesn't have those feelings. We don't fall in love, we don't have anybody who means anything to us, especially not humans. That's how it's always been, for me too, all the time! But then I started to get close to you, and now all I can think about is being with you, and it's hurting worse than any wound I ever took to think of never being near you again."

She fell silent, suddenly looking helpless; with two fast steps, she moved up to Willow, the witch this time not flinching away when the black haired woman lowered herself to a crouch next to her, looking at her with such sincerity that it just couldn't be fake.

"I've done my assassinations this way a thousand times", she confessed, the ease with which she said that making Willow a bit uneasy again, "getting close to a good friend of the target and using that to finish the target off easily. But… It never has been like this. Yes, you were right, it was acting in the beginning, I admit that, but then, something… something changed… I don't know what it is, I don't know if it's love or just something else, but what I do know is that I get this funny feeling in my stomach when you smile, no matter if you smile at me or just at someone or something else… And that I want to make you smile that way, and I want you to smile at me, to make you happy… And when I kissed you for the first time, I got that feeling in my stomach again, only a hundred times better… and I wanted it again and again, I just couldn't help myself… I don't know what's happening to me, I don't know if I can handle this, but I know I want to be close to you, all the time…"

She fell silent, giving Willow another helpless look; the redhead held it for a while, trying to read if those words had been honest or if it had just been yet another act to lull her in – before she reached out with one hand and tenderly touched the cheek of the other woman, her voice soft when she replied. "To be honest, I'm still not sure if I can believe all this, but… If what you just described isn't love, then I don't know what is…"

The smile Pat gave her in response was so insecure and even shy that all at once, Willow was sure that her words had been honest; a small smile formed on her lips as well before she leaned in to kiss the other woman, all her sadness and anger blown away the moment she felt those sweet lips on hers again.


	18. Chapter 18

The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, then the door opened and Buffy entered, returning from patrol; she stopped dead in her tracks for a moment, her eyes widening at the scene of a bloodied Pat with her back to her, looming over Willow in what looked like quite threatening – before she rushed in and grabbed the demon, forcefully jerking her away and landing a quite painful punch right in her face.

"Buffy!" Willow cried out, coming to her feet and hurrying to grab the Slayer, just a bit too late to keep her from landing another punch, "stop it! She wasn't attacking me!"

"What?" Buffy gave back, flabbergasted enough so her fist froze in mid-air; Pat took the chance given and moved away as fast as she could, only pausing to wipe the blood from her lip once she had put a safe distance between herself and Buffy's fists.

"She wasn't attacking you?" Buffy repeated, looking from the witch to the demon – before her eyes widened in realization, her gaze snapping back to Willow. "She wasn't attacking you! She was kissing you!"

"It'd be nice if you'd clear that up _before_ you start pummelling me the next time", Pat grumbled behind her, only to be ignored as Buffy just kept staring at her best friend.

"Actually, I was kissing her", Willow admitted, clearing her throat when Buffy just went on staring, obviously having difficulty with processing that information.

"But… She's a demon", the Slayer finally pointed out, causing Pat to grumble "No shit, Sherlock" behind her, the black haired woman obviously pissed off about the beating she had taken, but again, she was ignored, making her wonder briefly if she had become invisible or something.

"She is", Willow agreed, glad that Buffy had found her voice again, a wince escaping her though at what her best friend said next. "And she's come here to kill me! She used you to accomplish that! How can you be kissing her?"

"It's a bit hard to explain", Willow gave back, scratching the back of her head sheepishly while behind her, Pat started to feel her nose, obviously trying to figure out if it had been broken. "I went for a walk after you were gone", the witch finally started, deciding that this probably was the best starting point for the whole story, "and well, those two thugs attacked me, having rape in mind I think… She rescued me, but then this demon came along and she rescued me again, and killed it."

"You killed one of your own kind?" Buffy demanded in response, finally turning to the black haired woman behind her, briefly upsetting Willow as she just ignored the fact that she almost had been raped. "And those thugs wanted to rape you?" the Slayer now cried out, before Pat had a chance to reply anything, looking at the witch again, making her nod in reply, a sheepish smile appearing on her face afterwards. "Well… You have to admit it won't be that unusual, seeing my history so far, I've dated a werewolf and a witch…"

"A werewolf?" Pat echoed behind her, sounding so stunned that Willow just had to giggle, that sparkle Buffy had noticed in her eyes whenever she had looked at the other woman before all this mess with the pendant back to her gaze as she glanced at the black haired woman. "Yes, a werewolf… You're not surprised about the witch?"

"Well, you're one, so it'd make sense", Pat muttered in reply, shaking her head to herself afterwards – only to yelp as seconds later, Buffy grasped her collar and jerked her up to eyelevel, Willow's eyes widening at this sudden unexpected behaviour as well, filling with worry when the demon grabbed for her more serious wounds and let out a low groan.

"I've known Willow for quite some time now", Buffy started, sounding as if she felt like ripping off Pat's head and maybe use it as a bowling ball, "so I'll trust her judgement when it comes to you… Plus, it helps that you finished off one of your own kind… But if you hurt her again, or if you try to hurt me or any other friend of mine, I'll show you why I'm called the Slayer. Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes, yes", Pat hurried to reply, grimacing and gesturing at her side afterwards, fresh pain showing through her voice as she spoke on. "Could you let go of me now please? I don't want to bleed on your carpet…"

"Oh", Buffy gave back, her gaze moving down, softening slightly when Pat moved up her shirt again to expose the gashes; she let go of the demon and took a closer look at them, then glanced up at the black haired woman's face again, now sounding curious. "You got those killing off that demon?"

"No, I got them when I had an itch and scratched too hard", Pat mumbled, quickly speaking on at the dirty look Buffy shot her in return. "What? That wasn't exactly a smart question, was it! Of course I got them from that ass, and I got his icky green blood in my clothes, too, if you want any more proof I killed him! Next time I'll bring you the head or something…"

"No need to, I don't collect demon heads", Buffy gave back, now sounding not as pissed off anymore as she had a few minutes ago. "They don't look as good on the mantelpiece as one would think, and they stink up the place… Now let me have a look at those wounds…"

"You're called the Slayer and you want to look at my wounds? I'm not sure this is a good idea", Pat gave back, cowering at the death glare Buffy gave her in response. "Look", she quickly tried to explain, "I can heal those in my… well, in my demonic form, but I needed a more or less private place where I could change into that which wasn't all too far away from the fight scene because sometimes I can't control it so well and it burns my clothing, plus… I wanted to settle this with Willow…"

"Burns your clothing?" Buffy echoed, raising an eyebrow while crossing her arms over her chest. "You're some sort of fire demon and you want to transform into that in here? Aren't you afraid you'll burn the house down?"

"No I'm not", the demon gave back, now sounding mortified again, to the amusement of Willow. "I can control it well enough to not let that happen… I'd prefer it if you could give me some privacy though, it's not an exactly pleasant sight, I'm afraid."

"Actually, it looked quite nifty when you did that thing with your hands", Willow pointed out, making Pat smile at her briefly, Buffy once more having a chance to notice how her eyes lit up the second she looked at the witch.

"Well, I guess Willow and I could leave the room for a moment", she stated after thinking about this and decided that hopefully, the black haired woman would know what she was doing, "but we'll wait in front of the door, and the moment I smell smoke, I swear I'll barge in with a fire extinguisher!"

"Sounds fair to me", Pat gave back, the smile she flashed at Buffy not being returned; instead, the Slayer just got up and grasped Willow's hand, pulling her out of the room with her, the witch gulping as she realized that probably, a lecture would follow now, not sure if she was already prepared to face that.

* * *

"I meant it when I said that I trust your judgement about this", Buffy stated in a low voice the moment they were out on the hallway and the door to their room had been closed, "but… are you really sure that she's kosher now?"

"Kosher?" Willow echoed in response, not even to win time, but out of honest surprise. "I thought I'm the Jewish one here…"

"Don't change the topic", Buffy gave back, unable to keep the smile off her face though as she had to admit that her friend had made a point.

"Well, to be honest, no, I'm not sure", the redhead sighed out after a moment, giving her friend a pleading look afterwards. "But… honestly, I want to be… And you should have heard what she said before I kissed her, it was so sweet, and I swear, if that wasn't honest, she's wasting her time as an assassin, because she'd be the best actress in the world, she'd probably win one Oscar after the other, and…"

Realizing that she was going into babble mode, Willow made herself shut up; a bit taken aback by this flood of words, Buffy took a few moments of sorting her thoughts before she finally responded, her words causing a huge stone to drop off Willow's heart. "Well… I guess it'll be okay to give her another chance, seeing how much she means to you… I just hope you're right and that she really was honest this time, and it's not just another try to get close to us…"

"I doubt it", Willow gave back, running one hand through her hair before she spoke on, hoping she'd be able to voice the thoughts running through her mind properly so Buffy would understand. "Why would that demon try to attack her, if she'd still be out to get you? I honestly doubt she'd put up so much of a sham, just to make me trust her again… Plus, she couldn't know I'd be going where she found me, I didn't even know myself I'd be going there…"

"Makes sense, I guess", Buffy had to agree, giving the witch a curious look afterwards. "But… Just to be on the safe side… Do you think you maybe could put a truth spell on her or something?"

"I guess so", Willow shrugged after thinking about this for a moment and deciding that it probably would be safe and wouldn't make her evil again, "and even though I should be appalled, I have to admit it's a good idea… I'll need to get some supplies for that first though…"

"Let's do it like this", Buffy started to lay out her rather spontaneously made plan after thinking about it for a few seconds. "You can get the stuff you need at the Magic Box, right? So, just take her there tomorrow… I'll make sure Giles and the rest are there, so we can ask some questions you and me might not come up with…"

"Won't that be a bit… well… suspicious?" Willow demanded to know in reply; she didn't feel all too comfortable with putting a spell on the black haired woman and not telling her, but if she'd do it, she at least didn't want Pat to find out.

"Not if we do this right", Buffy winked in reply, making the witch nod her agreement after a moment; just as she smiled at the Slayer, hoping that this would work out fine, the door to their room opened and Pat stood there, her clothes still in bad shape, her facial colour much better though and the wounds obviously gone.

"All done, and I didn't set anything on fire", she stated, sounding so absurdly proud that Willow couldn't help herself, but just had to smile. "Not even my clothing…"

"Pity", the witch stated before she could stop herself; Buffy raised an eyebrow at her while Pat gave her a surprised look, followed by another one of those awfully cute shy smiles.

"Well", Buffy carefully spoke up, the chemistry which was going on between her best friend and the demon again not unnoticed by her, "I guess I'll give the two of you some time alone… Willow, you'll be okay, right?"

"Yeah", the redhead gave back, a bit surprised by this, raising an eyebrow at her best friend. "But where will you be going? It's in the middle of the night…"

"Giles' place", Buffy shrugged in reply, "I bet he's still awake, I'll figure out something with him for that… thing we have to do."

"Yeah, the thing", Willow agreed, stepping up to the Slayer afterwards and hugging her briefly, making her smile at her reassuringly before she turned and walked off; once she had vanished down the stairway, the witch turned to face the woman behind her, her voice trembling just the tiniest bit when she spoke up, gesturing at the door leading into her dorm room. "Well… We better get inside then…"

Nodding, Pat took a step back so Willow could enter the room; after taking in another deep breath, she did so, hoping that this wouldn't turn out as the wrong decision in the end, but telling herself once more that what she had seen in the other woman's eyes during her confession had been real and honest, those thoughts taking some of her unease about the whole situation away.


	19. Chapter 19

Author's Note: As I probably won't have the chance to update tomorrow due to family obligations, I'm providing you with a longer update today – hope you'll enjoy :-) Next update will follow on Sunday evening.

* * *

"Here", Willow stated five minutes later, after successfully winning some time by claiming that she wouldn't let sit Pat on her bed as long as she was wearing clothes splattered with blood and demon goo, handing a t-shirt and a pair of jogging pants to her companion; since Pat was considerably taller than her, the pants didn't quite fit, but both figured that it still was better than wearing the torn and messed jeans she had been wearing when she had come here.

Once she had changed her clothes – in front of Willow, obviously not bothered by letting the redhead see her in her underwear – the black haired woman found her glasses and grimaced at the broken side frame, looking up when Willow held out a roll of sticky tape out to her.

"Thanks", she smirked, quickly fixing the broken piece with the fast moves that showed experience with such tasks; frowning slightly, the witch watched her, speaking up as soon as the other woman had gotten done and had put the glasses back on, blinking slightly as her eyes apparently readjusted to them. "Are those real?"

"Of course they are", Pat gave back, sounding slightly surprised at the question, Willow having to admit that it had kind of come out of the blue. "Why wouldn't they be?"

"Well", the redhead gave back, now feeling a bit silly as she had to voice her thoughts about said glasses, "you're a demon, so…"

"So?" the black haired woman echoed, raising an eyebrow and giving her another curious look. "Demons can't have bad eyesight?"

"I always thought that being a demon prevents such things, to be honest", Willow admitted, smiling at what Pat replied. "I wish that was true… I've met deaf and dumb demons, demons without sense of smell, and tone-deaf demons… Unfortunately, those always seem to end up in a karaoke bar in Los Angeles and feel the need to sing."

This made the redhead giggle, the demon smirking as well, nodding a second later when the redhead asked her if she wanted something to drink.

"We got apple juice, and orange juice", Willow informed her after a peek into the fridge, making her reassure her that either was fine; after opening yet another bottle of apple juice, she found the one she had opened for herself before all of this had happened on the floor and finally sat down next to the black haired woman, suddenly feeling shy again, the look she gave Pat making this quite obvious.

"Well…" she then started, clearing her throat before she continued, now focusing on the bit of carpet she could see between her feet, "I spoke to Buffy about… all of this… while you were doing your fiery demon thingy in here, and she told me that she really does trust my judgement, but she also meant it when she said she'd kill you if you try to hurt her, me or anyone else so… I hope what you said before was honest…"

"Of course it was", Pat reassured her, giving her a wry smile afterwards; the cut Buffy's punch had left at her lower lip had healed along with the wounds at her side, but obviously, this hadn't made her forget how well-aimed that punch actually had been "Especially after I had the honour of the Slayer trying to knock my teeth down my throat…"

"That was so obscure", Willow gave back, to her own surprise giggling afterwards, shaking her head to herself. "I swear I would have stopped her faster if I'd been able to, but I was so stunned!"

"You can't imagine how stunned I was", the taller woman gave back, smirking at her, warming her heart when she spoke on. "One second I'm kissing you, which was wonderful, and in the next, I'm having my face bashed in by the Vampire Slayer… Talk about mood whiplash."

"Good she didn't bash your face too badly", Willow cooed, the smile which accompanied her words a bit more confident than her previous ones. "It'd be a pity to have such a handsome face ruined…"

"Why thank you", the other woman smirked, only to grow more serious again a moment later, giving the redhead another curious look. "You know, there's something I've been wondering about…"

"What?" Willow demanded to know, suddenly slightly nervous again – after all, the expression on the other woman's face made it clear that no silly or funny question would follow.

"Why you didn't just kick the ass of those two guys who molested you?" Pat asked after a second, raising an eyebrow at the witch. "Not that I minded being your knight in shiny armour… Well, without the armour… But I did my research well enough to know that you're a powerful witch, so you should have been able to handle them…"

"Technically, yes", Willow sighed out, running one hand through her hair as she focused on the carpet between her feet again, "but… Well… You probably know what happened after Tara died…"

"Um, no, not exactly", Pat admitted, causing the witch to look at her again, clearly surprised. "I know that you went kinda evil and wanted to destroy the world", she went on in response to the stunned look on Willow's face, "but no details…"

"Oh", the redhead smartly replied, suddenly not sure if she wanted the other woman to know what she had done; then, she figured that as a demon, she had done worse things herself and cleared her throat before she spoke on, nervously playing with the hem of her shirt as she talked. "Well… I guess you know that Tara got shot…?"

"Yeah, and Buffy too", Pat confirmed; Willow nodded, clearing her throat once more before she continued, suddenly wondering if she'd been able to make it through the story without bursting into tears – so far, she always had avoided speaking about Tara's death, as it had just been too painful.

"It happened so fast", she mumbled, now focusing on her hands again, "one moment, we were talking, and in the next, she was on the ground, dead… I tried to resurrect her, as I had with Buffy, but it didn't work and… something within me just snapped…" She took in a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke on, the miserable sound prompting Pat to carefully put an arm around her shoulders, relief momentarily filling her when Willow didn't push her away.

"Long story short, I hunted down the guy who did it and skinned him alive", the witch finally made herself tell the awful truth, swallowing heavily before she spoke on. "And… It felt good to do this to him, back then… So I promised myself I'd never use those powers against another human, never again… But… If you hadn't shown up, I don't know if I would have lived up to that oath, and what I might have done to those guys then…"

She fell silent, gulping heavily once more; and even though she had sworn to herself that she wouldn't cry, she couldn't stop the tears which filled her eyes at those horrible memories from rolling down her cheeks, a sniffle escaping her before she could regain control over herself.

"Hey, there, there", Pat spoke up beside her, sounding a bit shocked, "don't cry… It's alright, don't cry…" Obviously not sure what else she could say, she just pulled the redhead closer to herself; letting out a sob, Willow suddenly clung to her, burying her face in her shoulder and just let the tears flow, crying until there were no more of them left to cry.

* * *

"Feel better?" the demon asked as soon as Willow had managed to stop crying; smiling weakly, the redhead nodded, blowing her nose on a hanky Pat was holding out to her, the black haired woman returning her smile before she moved one hand to caress her hair tenderly.

"Well, if it makes you feel better", she then spoke up, "I guess you're too kind-hearted to do such a thing ever again… And it's not like that guy didn't deserve it. I've been sent to kill people for much less drastic things…"

"You know, somehow I keep forgetting, or maybe repressing, the fact that you're a demon assassin", Willow gave back in reply, raising an eyebrow at the woman next to her, glad that she could change the topic from her own horrible deeds to those Pat might have committed. "If I hadn't found that pendant in your place, I never would have suspected a thing… You look so…"

"Human?" Pat smirked, making Willow shake her head after a moment, a small smile on her face as well as she replied. "No… Well, yeah, that too of course, but, also normal… I always imagined assassins to look like in video games, or something."

"Well, I'd hardly be unobtrusive then", Pat pointed out to her, making quite a good point. "Plus, if you've been doing that for as long as I did, you learn how to appear perfectly… normal…"

"How long have you been doing that, then?" Willow asked in response, even though she wasn't sure she really wanted to know; the black haired woman shrugged in reply, her response making the eyes of the redhead widen. "Two hundred years, give or take…"

"Then… How old are you?" the witch asked after a second, even though she wasn't sure she wanted to know, gulping at the answer of the other woman. "Two hundred and thirty eight years… Turning two hundred and thirty nine next February."

"Wow", Willow gave back, stunned, her eyes big and round as she looked at the woman beside her. "And my mom already flipped when I was dating Oz because he was a year older than me… And a musician, of course."

"You better not tell her about our age difference then", Pat chuckled in reply, "or about my job… Not that I'm so sure I'll still be working in the future, seeing how I messed this up…"

"Is this why that demon attacked you?" Willow asked, suddenly remembering that this had been on her mind ever since she had ran away from that fight. "Because you blew your cover with me?"

"Not exactly", Pat sighed out in reply, giving the redhead a lopsided smile afterwards. "I guess they actually sent that guy after me because I told them I wouldn't finish the job…"

"You did?" Willow replied, surprised once more, asking herself if this was the night of surprises for her, but at least, this one had been more pleasant than finding out that her love interest was more than two hundred years older than her.

"Yup", the demon now confirmed, clearing her throat and scratching the back of her head sheepishly as she went on, appearing awfully cute to the redhead once more. "I didn't tell them the true reason for it of course, just told them I blew my cover… But they still didn't take it lightly, it seems… Demons can have such easily bruised egos."

"What was the true reason then?" the witch asked, surprised and oddly touched when Pat blushed in reply, clearing her throat once more before she replied, now her turn to study the carpet between her feet. "Well… Even with my cover blown to Hell and back, I still could have tried to finish Buffy off… It would have been harder, of course, but not impossible, I've done it before, even though she's the Vampire Slayer… But… Well…"

She cleared her throat again, then looked up, her gaze meeting Willow's, letting the witch once more see nothing else but genuine honesty in her blue eyes. "That would have hurt you, so I couldn't do it…"

"That's so sweet", Willow sighed out, giggling to herself afterwards. "In a slightly weird and twisted way…"

"Well, I'm a demon, what do you expect", the black haired woman smirked in reply; as an answer, Willow just smiled as well, then ended the talk by leaning in to kiss the other woman, a happy sigh escaping her when Pat responded to the kiss immediately, wrapping both arms around her and pulling her close, her tender kiss and touch once more making her sure that at least this time, her words had been coming from her heart and were as honest as they could be.

* * *

"I guess I better go now", Pat muttered half an hour later, picking up her ruined clothes and straightening the ones Willow had given her; she ran both hands through her hair to make it look a little less tousled, the witch watching her with a slightly dismayed expression on her face – after all, their kiss had turned to something quite more passionate, only to be interrupted when the demon suddenly had pulled back and had made this statement.

"Before Buffy comes back", the black haired woman now clarified her sudden urge to get away, giving Willow an apologetic glance. "I doubt she'll stay at Giles' place all night…"

"You're probably right", the witch had to agree after moment, a small sigh escaping her afterwards. "Well… get home safely then… What if they send another demon to kill you?"

"I'll fry it", Pat shrugged, making the redhead jump a moment later by snapping her fingers and causing a tiny flame to appear on her index finger, a smirk on her face accompanying it. "That last one they sent wasn't too much of a challenge…"

"So that's why it almost tore you open", Willow teased, causing the other woman to huff at her before she shook her hand and made the flame go out, the way someone else might do with a match.

"It is not kind to remind me of that", she then stated, throwing the witch a mock annoyed glance, only succeeding in making her giggle though.

"I'm a witch", she then gave back, her eyes now sparkling with mischief. "I can be nasty too… Just be careful or I'll get out my broomstick and hit you with it."

"I thought you're supposed to fly around on that", Pat smirked while she struggled with putting on her shoes, finally sitting down to so as it obviously wasn't an easy task to be done while standing up. "More than two hundred years old and I still need to sit down to do that", she commented dryly, to the amusement of the redhead. "Some things I'll never learn, I guess…"

"It seems so", Willow agreed, another thought hitting her a moment later and making her smile, her heart filled with joy at the fact that she could share such playful banter with the black haired woman again. "Tell me, have you been smoking all those two hundred and thirty eight years?"

"Well, I didn't smoke when I was a baby", Pat gave back, rising an eyebrow at her, "but I guess I did start at fifteen or sixteen… Why?"

"Just think of all the money you blew into the air", the redhead chuckled, making the demon groan; she shook her head and exclaimed that she'd rather not do that, then came to her feet again and moved over to the bed Willow still sat on, bending down to steal an innocent kiss from her.

"Not that I want to appear pushy", she then stated, smiling down on the witch, "but… will I see you tomorrow?"

"Oh, sure", Willow immediately gave back, remembering the agreement she had made with Buffy; briefly, she felt bad about it, pushed those feelings aside though, telling herself that it was necessary and that she owed her best friend that much.

"Actually, I'd like you to come to the Magic Box with me tomorrow", she thus stated, hoping that Pat wouldn't notice that she had hidden intentions. "All the rest of the gang will be there… And since I already told them about, uh, your job and your true identity, I guess it'd be nice to clear things up with them…"

"Sure", the other woman shrugged in reply, "that makes sense… I'm not keen on getting punched by all of your friends in a row because they'll think I'm attacking you when in fact, I'm kissing you…"

Smiling, Willow nodded in reply, then asked if it was okay to pick her up at two in the next day; Pat reassured her that it was just fine, kissing her once more before she finally turned and left, a happy sigh escaping Willow the moment she was gone, the redhead smiling to herself as she laid down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about how good it had felt to kiss those lips again and to run her hands through that amazing black and red hair.


	20. Chapter 20

In the next morning, Willow awoke to the sound of the alarm clock ringing, a groan escaping her as she sat up on the bed and switched off the alarm clock; she glanced over at Buffy's bed, frowning when she saw that it was empty and unused – before she held back the urge to curse, realizing that Buffy had obviously stayed at Giles' place and that this meant that Pat had gone home for nothing, instead of taking the chance given to become more intimate with her.

"Well, guess it's better anyway", she muttered herself while she collected her hygiene utensils and made her way to the bathroom, "at least until the truth spell has been done and all questions have been answered…"

She still didn't feel all too comfortable about this, but told herself once more that it was necessary; even though she wanted to just trust Pat again, without any strings attached, she knew that she had to be as sure as she could be about all of this, and the truth spell was the easiest and safest way to accomplish that.

_I just hope that she won't notice anything, _the redhead thought to herself as she stepped beneath the shower and started going through her usual routine there, _or she'll be mightily pissed… On the other hand, maybe she'd even understand… _

She kept pondering which of those two possibilities was more likely to happen, then shrugged it off and focused on washing her body and hair, quickly getting done and stepping out of the shower, briefly wondering how it would be to shower with Pat.

_It'd sure take longer then, _she told herself, smiling at the thought while she rubbed herself dry, then put on her bathrobe and moved out of the shower stall, making her way to one of the washbasins to brush her hair and teeth. As soon as she was done with that, she returned to the dorm room, now finding Buffy there; the Slayer was sitting on her bed, dressed in fresh clothing and looking at her with slight relief on her face, making Willow wonder what exactly she had been expecting to find.

"What?" she thus asked while she threw her pyjama on the bed, raising an eyebrow; Buffy shrugged in reply, then gave her a slightly sheepish smile, sounding just a bit too cheerful when she answered her. "Nothing… Well… I guess I'm just glad I found that room still intact this morning, without a pile of Willow ashes on the ground."

"What?" Willow repeated, now sounding flabbergasted, her eyebrows almost shooting up all the way to her hairline as she realized what Buffy had been aiming at. "You thought Pat would do something to me?"

"I wasn't sure", the Slayer sighed out, giving her an apologetic look afterwards. "Please don't be mad", she added, getting up from her seat and moving over to Willow, placing a reassuring hand on her arm. "I know she means something to you, and that you want things to be alright… But you understand I'm still a bit worried, right? I promise I'll stop doing that after the truth spell thing…"

"Yeah, I understand", the redhead sighed out after considering this for a few seconds, "and I wish I could reassure you that this spell thing wasn't necessary, but I know it is… We'll all feel much better about this afterwards…"

"For sure", the Slayer gave back, not daring to bring up what she might have to do if the spell wouldn't bring the answers Willow wanted to hear; instead, she just smiled reassuringly at the witch again and patted her arm once more, then gestured at the door. "Well, we better get going, or we'll be late for our classes…"

"Yup", the redhead agreed, quickly packing up her books and something write; Buffy waited until she had gotten done, then left the room together with her, pushing all thoughts of the meeting in the afternoon aside for now.

* * *

When Willow and Pat arrived at the Magic Box at quarter past two, the witch felt nervous again, asking herself if this really would be the right thing to do; and again, she told herself that it had to be done, thus keeping her mouth shut about the plans of Buffy, her and the rest, only smiling bravely at the taller woman beside her as they stood in front of the shop's glass door.

"Alright", she stated, hoping that, if Pat noticed how nervous she was, she'd blame it on the fact that they were just about to meet all her friends and try to convince them that the demon wouldn't want to kill Buffy or any of them anymore, "let's get this over with…"

"I'm sure it'll be fine", the black haired woman gave back, obviously trying to cheer her up; with another brave smile, Willow nodded, then pushed the door open and entered, with Pat right behind her.

"Hi guys", the witch greeted, making the small group sitting around the table raise their hands in greeting; along with Buffy and Giles, Xander and Anya had tagged along as well, even Dawn being there, sitting next to her sister and studying the woman standing behind Willow.

"I think you two haven't met yet", Willow broke the uncomfortable silence after a few seconds, gesturing at Dawn, the teenager flashing a smile at the taller woman, making Willow wonder briefly if she knew what was going on – before she shrugged it off and told herself that she probably did and was just trying to be nice. "Pat, this is Dawn, Buffy's sister."

"Nice to meet you", Pat politely gave back, moving over to the table and sitting down there afterwards; taking the chance given, Willow excused herself and made her way to the back room of the shop, where Buffy usually trained, the Slayer joining her there a few moments later.

"Giles and I got the stuff you said you'd need before you two arrived here", she informed the witch, keeping her voice low while she handed a rather small plastic bag to her, causing Willow to let out a deep sigh before she opened the bag and peered inside.

"Looks good", she then muttered, emptying the contents of the table in front of her after making room by moving some daggers and small axes aside, "let's just hope that a) she won't notice anything and b) she'll say what I want to hear… I'm not sure I'll be able to handle it if it turned out she lied to me again…"

"Only one way to find out", Buffy gave back, not sure what else to say – and wanting to avoid discussion about if this really was necessary; to her relief, Willow didn't start to argue, but merely nodded in response, focusing on the utensils of the table afterwards. Curiously, Buffy watched how she sorted the various powders and herbs, looking at them for a while as soon as she had gotten done; then, with another deep breath, she started crumbling the herbs into the small bowl Buffy had readied for her, mumbling Latin words to herself while she did so, the Slayer wisely taking a few steps away from the table – years of the redhead practicing witchcraft had taught her that spells didn't work out the right way all the time and that, if she liked her eyebrows the way they were, it was a good idea not to stand too close to her while she was tampering with mysterious herbs and powders.

This time though, everything seemed to work out just fine; when Willow poured the last ingredient into the bowl, accompanied by more ominous Latin chanting, a small white flame appeared in the bowl, briefly filling the room with bright light, a heavy breath coming from the witch the moment it had died down again.

"Alright", she then mumbled, turning to look at the Slayer, "I'm pretty sure that worked so… let's go and find out…"

Nodding, Buffy moved closer to her again, patting her arm reassuringly; bravely, Willow smiled at her, then the two left the room together and joined the rest in the shop's main room, where Giles by now had lowered the blinds and had turned the sign at the door, informing potential customers that the shop was closed. Upon the return of Buffy and Willow, the Watcher gave them a questioning look, the witch responding with the tiniest nod, hoping once more that Pat hadn't noticed anything; she sat down next to the taller woman and gave her a smile, her heart hammering up to her throat as she realized how close she and the rest now were to finding out the truth.

* * *

"So", Anya was the first one to speak up after a few seconds had passed in silence, "you're a demon, then."

"Yup", the black haired woman replied, raising an eyebrow at what Anya said next. "Like me. Well, like I was, I'm an ex-demon now. I used to be big in the vengeance field, what's your speciality?"

"Assassination", Pat gave back, obviously not finding anything about this weird or suspicious, seeming as relaxed as ever – even though she did tense up a bit when she looked at Giles and asked him if she could smoke in here, making him shake his head rigorously in reply.

"Pity", she mumbled in reply, her attention moving away from her addiction and to Xander when he spoke up. "So, an assassin then, huh. Sounds cool. I assume being an… icy demon helps with that?"

"Icy?" Pat echoed, throwing Willow a confused glance, Buffy smiling at her next words, despite her tries to remain serious. "Did you mix up my element? I'm not throwing ice cubes around, you know…"

"I guess Xander did", the redhead gave back apologetically, wondering to herself what the use of all this was – after all, they hadn't asked the black haired woman anything they didn't know yet.

"I'm a fire demon", Pat now informed Xander helpfully, repeating the little trick she had shown Willow earlier by snapping her fingers and making a flame appear, the young man gawking for a moment before leaning back into his seat, obviously impressed. "That's pretty cool, actually. Or hot. Uh, not in the attractive kind of way, in the cool kind of way… Uh… I mean…"

"So", Buffy butted in before Xander could talk a knot into his own brain, obviously as keen on getting down to the real questions at last as Willow was so they could get done with all this, "you're a demonic assassin who came here to kill me, right?"

"Um, yeah", the black haired woman gave back, raising an eyebrow at her afterwards, forcing Willow to keep herself from fidgeting on her seat as she realized that slowly, her love interest was starting to suspect something, "but we've been through this yesterday, when you punched me for thinking I was attacking Willow when I was, in fact, kissing her, so…?"

"Well, yes", Buffy admitted, her mind running wild as she tried to figure out what she could say to keep the demon from realizing something was awry here, "but… Not everyone here's on the same level of knowledge about this, you know."

"Okay", Pat shrugged, to the great relief of both Willow and Buffy, her gaze moving from one member of the gang to the next as she spoke on. "So, to make sure we're all on the same page here, yes, I am an assassin, sent to kill off Buffy so my ex-boss could come here untroubled. I tried doing so by hooking up with Willow" – at saying this, she gave the redhead an apologetic look – "so I'd get close to Buffy through her, but, well, things didn't go exactly as planned, so I'm actually off the job now, probably pissed the guy who hired me off _mightily_, and as it happens, I'm totally doting on a certain witch, which is the main reason why I ditched the job after all. And I really have no idea why I just said so much."

With those words, she shut up, looking slightly confused; quickly, Willow grasped her hand and smiled at her before she could ponder this further, making Pat look at her again, a smile appearing on her face.

"So you're in love with Willow", Dawn gained her attention after processing all that information, "really in love, I mean? I thought demons don't fall in love."

"So did I", Pat gave back, shrugging helplessly afterwards while a dreamy expression entered Willow's eyes as she thought of the heartfelt confession the black haired woman had made to her the night before, in her dorm room. "Seems I was wrong though…"

With those words, she looked at Willow again, giving her hand a tender squeeze; and even though the situation was too serious for that, Dawn couldn't help herself, but just had to let out an adoring "Awwww" sound, unfazed by the look Buffy gave her. "What? It's cute!"

"So you won't try to kill Buffy anymore", Giles finally asked the question they all wanted to know the answer to, "and neither will you try to hurt anyone else of our… group?"

"No, I won't", the demon gave back, now focusing on the Watcher, "big demon promise… Uh… Well… That maybe wasn't the best choice of words now…"

"It's fine for me", Anya quipped, shrugging when the rest of the group look at her with raised eyebrows. "What? I was a demon too not all too long ago, remember? Hey, what about you, have you been a demon all your life?"

"Actually, no", Pat gave back, frowning to herself and moving her free hand to scratch the back of her head, "but I've been one for so long, I guess it doesn't make much of a difference…"

"How did you become a demon?" Xander demanded to know, sounding just a tad too interested and making the rest look at him now with their eyebrows wandering up again; before he could defend himself though, the black haired woman replied, still with a frown on her face. "I was cursed, don't ask me what I did to bring this upon myself, I have no idea anymore… It's been over two hundred years since then."

"Do you remember if there's a way this curse can be broken?" Willow curiously asked, glad about the direction this talk was taking; looking at her again, Pat shrugged, a wry smile appearing on her face as she replied. "The infamous clichéd curse escape clause? Love me before the last petal falls, true love's first kiss and all that? I doubt that very much, because I think I already got my true love's first kiss and I'm still feeling quite demony, so…"

"Awwww", both Willow and Dawn now gushed, in perfect unison; smiling as well, Buffy leaned back into her seat and gave the redhead the tiniest, barely visible nod, making it clear to her that the questioning was over and that at least for now, everything was alright.


	21. Chapter 21

"That went quite well", the Slayer stated ten minutes later; Pat had gone outside to have a cigarette, Anya tagging along and probably going through the Who-Is-Who of demons with her now to see if they had any acquaintances in common, while Willow had stayed behind with some flimsy excuse.

"Thank Goodness", the redhead now sighed out, idly drawing invisible patterns on the table in front of her, not looking half as happy as Buffy would have expected her to.

"But something's bothering you", she thus stated, scooting a bit closer to the witch and giving her a concerned look. "Why? She practically made a declaration of love to you, so I'd expect you to be bouncing in your seat now…"

"I feel bad about this whole spell thing", Willow sighed in response, looking at the Slayer miserably. "I know it was necessary", she hurried to add before Buffy had the chance to say anything, "but I still feel bad about it… It made me think of that time I put the forgetting spell on Tara, and you know how _that_ ended... What if she finds out?"

"She'll understand", Buffy gave back immediately, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly. "I mean, she did come here to kill me, she'd surely understand that we had to make sure her change of heart was honest…"

"I hope so", Willow mumbled, forcing herself to smile afterwards, not wanting to appear so gloomy after she practically had been told all the words she had wanted to hear from Pat. "And she never has to know, so… Plus, she did say that awfully sweet thing about true love's first kiss…"

"Oh my God, that was _so_ cute", Dawn threw in, the sparkle in her eyes making Willow's smile widen and look much more honest. "I hope I'll find a guy some day who'll say such cute things to me!"

"When you're old enough for that", Buffy immediately gave back, throwing her sister a strict look and making her roll her eyes; smirking to herself, Willow shook her head at the scene, then got up from her seat and explained she'd join Pat outside before Anya would chew off one of her ears, making the rest of the group nod while she turned and left the shop, pushing her worries about the spell and the consequences it might have if Pat ever found out about it to the far end of her mind.

* * *

"Oh, there's the light of my life", the tall woman stated the moment her gaze fell on Willow as she joined Anya and her, briefly making the witch wonder if this still was an effect of the truth spell while she smiled and moved up to the demon, immediately making Pat put an arm around her shoulders. "Anya and I were just comparing notes on the demons we've both met."

"Somehow, I knew you'd be doing this", Willow giggled, making both Pat and Anya smile as well, the taller woman taking the final drag of her cigarette and throwing it to the ground afterwards, putting it out by stepping on it.

"It was nice", Anya now let the two know, "but I have some… thing… to check back there in the shop, so see you in a few!"

With those words, she turned and hurried back inside; amused, Pat looked after her, then glanced down at Willow again, her eyes twinkling as she spoke up. "You know, it's really amusing how your friends keep making up excuses to give us some private time… And how they all can't come up with anything more creative than I have to a thing to do or I forgot a thing."

"Well, I've always been the brain of the group", Willow smiled, "they can't all be as smart as me… Even though I have to admit, Giles does come close sometimes."

"Oh, that guy", Pat gave back, frowning momentarily and making Willow wonder why, speaking on though before the witch could ask and clearing it up for her. "Is he always that stiff? I was tempted to ask if he's got a stick up his… uh…intestines."

"That's just how he is", Willow giggled in reply, now moving slightly so she was standing in front of the taller woman instead of next to her, her smile widening when Pat put both arms around her waist. "You get used to it… You know, what you said in there, about true love's first kiss… That was awfully sweet…"

"What a change of topic", the demon chuckled in reply, "but I'm glad you liked it… I like it to make you smile…"

"You do", Willow reassured her, then moved one hand up to the taller woman's neck; the gesture was enough to make her lean down, their lips touching moments later, a shiver running up and down the redhead's spine as the kiss deepened.

"It's almost scary how much you mean to me", Pat mumbled after the kiss, caressing Willow's cheek tenderly, the gentle touch making the witch's heart beat faster. "After all those decades… centuries… I spent practically alone, I accept this stupid job to kill the Slayer, and there you were… To be honest, at first I even thought you put a spell on me to make me fall for you or something… I just couldn't handle it. I'd lay awake at night, thinking of you… Especially after you found out about me being a demon."

She grimaced at those memories, a small sigh escaping Willow as well when she thought back to that horrible time.

"Let's not think of this any more", she stated, moving closer to the taller woman and resting her head on her shoulder, "I felt so bad, too… And poor Buffy had to endure it all, I think I spent hours crying on her lap."

"Oh, don't say such things", Pat grimaced in response, moving one hand to caress the redhead's hair tenderly. "The thought that I made you cry clenches up my heart… and, oh jeez, that sounded so tacky right now."

"No, that was sweet", Willow protested, lifting her head again so she could look up at her, her eyes sparkling. "Really… Well, maybe a bit tacky, but I like tacky. Sometimes. Right now."

"Good to know", the demon gave back, smiling again as well. "Then I can keep going I guess, and promise you that I'll never make you cry again…"

In response, Willow just smiled, then demanded another kiss; afterwards, the couple made their way back into the shop – "Before they think we're getting it on out here", as Pat phrased it – joining the rest of the gang there for a relaxed afternoon, the atmosphere now much less stiff as thanks to the spell, it had been made clear that the demon wasn't a danger for the group any longer.

* * *

During the next month, Pat was successfully established as newest addition to the Scooby gang; she often accompanied Willow and Buffy on patrol, obviously having no qualms anymore about killing off other demons and vampires, never showing the two her full demonic form though – all she allowed Buffy and Willow to see were the fiery hands the witch already knew, but those were enough to be helpful and to make Buffy admit that Willow had had a point when she had claimed that this had looked nifty.

Several times, the witch made it clear that she had an interest in seeing the full demonic form of the woman she now referred to her as her girlfriend, but Pat would refuse every time, only telling her that it wasn't a pleasant sight and that she didn't want to see it; this annoyed the redhead at first, but she soon accepted it, figuring that the demon probably had her reasons to keep that form from her. Since it had been made clear that Pat wouldn't leave Sunnydale after all, she had returned to her apartment, the place where Willow and she spent the night whenever they wanted to get intimate – after all, the witch was sharing her room with Buffy, and it didn't seem fair to kick her out of there every time certain needs came up.

During those nights, Willow learned the advantages of dating someone who was more than two hundred years old and a demon on top of that – such a long life inevitably led to a lot of experience on certain fields, and she found out that Xander hadn't been exaggerating when he had mentioned the uncanny stamina Anya always had shown.

"You know, sometimes, I'm surprised I can still walk straight", she told Pat one Saturday morning after yet another quite long night, while the demon was standing at the kitchen counter making coffee and ham and eggs, Willow sitting at the kitchen table and watching her.

"I can hold back if you want me to", the black haired woman now stated, looking at her briefly and smiling before she focused on the pan again – even after more than two hundred years of being alive, her cooking skills weren't worth much, as she had confessed to the witch, and the last thing she wanted was to let the food burn.

"No way", the witch now giggled, finally getting up from her seat and moving to the coffee machine, where the coffee had finished running through by now, "I didn't say I don't enjoy that… You know I do… Often several times in a row."

She giggled at her own quite kinky remark, the demon smiling as well; usually, she'd rather drop dead than saying such a thing, and she knew that she never would have made such a comment towards Tara, but with Pat, she had no problem with making such remarks.

"I noticed", the black haired woman now winked at her, making her giggle again while she poured coffee into the two fresh cups she had gotten from one of the cupboards; as always, she took hers with just a tiny bit of milk while she dropped three cubes of sugar into Pat's cup, shaking her head to herself as she did so.

"I'll never understand how you can drink your coffee like that", she then stated, handing the cup to her girlfriend after stirring it for her. "I swear, if you'd be human, you'd have diabetes already."

"And lung cancer", the demon shrugged, smirking at her afterwards; Willow just rolled her eyes in response, then smiled at her, moving back to the cupboard afterwards to get clean plates for the food.

"I hope this is as ready as it looks", Pat commented, eying the ham and eggs so closely that she nearly stuck her nose in them. "I'd hate to make you sick to your stomach with undercooked eggs…"

"Next time, I'll cook", Willow gave back, peering into the pan as well, deciding after a moment that it probably could be eaten. "I'm not that much of a cook either, but I'll make something which won't endanger us of getting salmonella…"

"Which won't endanger _you_ of that", Pat gave back, apportioning the food on the two plates Willow was holding out to her, "demons don't get that…"

"Oh, good", the witch smirked while she made her way to the table with Pat in tow, "then you can nurse me back to health…"

"Did I mention I'm even worse at that than I'm at cooking?" the black haired woman immediately replied, making Willow laugh heartily; she shook her head to herself, then kissed her tenderly before they both sat down to eat, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and each other's company.


	22. Chapter 22

"What are you doing here?" Buffy demanded to know in surprise several hours later, as Willow entered the dorm room rather unexpectedly. "I thought you'd spend the whole weekend at Pat's."

"I'd love to", Willow sighed out in reply, stepping out of her shoes and letting her handbag fall to the floor carelessly, "but I got a paper to finish, and I never would have gotten done with that over at her place… Too much distraction."

"I can imagine", Buffy smirked, amused when the witch blushed in reply – no matter how flirtatious and saucy she could be when she was bantering with Pat, it still made her flush when her friends made such comments.

"Well", the Slayer added while Willow still was clearing her throat, "you'll have the peace and quiet you need for that here… I promised Dawn to take her shopping today."

She grimaced at her own words, making the redhead giggle while she moved over to the small table in the corner and picked up her laptop, making her way to her bed afterwards and sitting down it before she opened the laptop and placed it on her upper legs.

"Pat and I will go and have dinner together at six", she let Buffy know while she waited for the computer to finish booting, "if you get done until then, why don't you and Dawn tag along?"

"Wouldn't you want to be alone with her?" Buffy asked back in surprise, the witch shrugging and giving her a warm smile. "We'll have enough chances to be alone in the future, and after taking Dawn shopping, I guess you won't feel like making dinner… Plus, we'll go to that new Chinese place, and you know how awesome it is…"

"Oh yes", Buffy sighed out dreamily, her mouth watering at the thought of the meal she had eaten there several days ago, "I can't say no to that… Alright, if we get back in time, we'll tag along, if Pat doesn't mind, of course…"

"Oh, she won't", Willow reassured her, focusing on her laptop briefly to open the file she had been working on the last few days, "she likes you, and since for some reason, Dawn idolizes her, she of course likes her as well…"

"Maybe the fact that she can light candles without actually needing a lighter helps with the idolizing", Buffy smirked, checking her watch afterwards and groaning to herself. "But, well", she then sighed, getting off the bed, "time to go, or my sweet sister will be mad at me for being late… Sometimes I wish she'd idolize me."

"Siblings never idolize each other", Willow replied wisely, making Buffy wonder for a moment how she'd know that, since she was an only child; then, she shrugged it off and just sighed, nodding her agreement before she wished Willow good luck with her paper and left, the redhead soon lost in her work and not even noticing anymore how time flew by.

* * *

Almost two hours had passed when a knock came from the door and tore Willow out of her concentration, making her frown to herself as she checked the clock in the lower right corner of her laptop, figuring that this couldn't be Pat or Buffy – it was still way too early for the demon to come to pick her up, and Buffy surely wouldn't knock. Wondering what this was about, she saved her work, then put the laptop aside and rose from the bed, making her way to the door; upon opening it, she found herself looking at a tall guy, her frown deepening as she tried to figure out if she had seen him before and what he might want.

"Yes?" she politely asked after a second; moments later, she let out a shocked squeal as he pushed her back into the room, his hand covering her mouth before she had the chance to scream, two more guys entering behind him, one of them looking left and right down the hallway before he pulled the door close and locked it.

"Wouldn't want anyone to disturb us, huh?" the guy who had grabbed her smirked, letting go of her; before she could shout for help though, he had punched her in the stomach, her breath getting knocked out of her as she doubled over, gasping for air.

"No screaming", the one who had locked the door stated, crossing his arms over his chest, her eyes widening when moments later, all three of them changed, their perfectly normal faces melting away to reveal hideous, demonic features.

"Don't be scared", the tallest one of them snarled at her, the sight of his sharp teeth making her feel faint; still she collected all her courage and threw the first spell she could think of at the one closest to her, horrified when it had no apparent effect.

"You think we didn't do our homework?" he chuckled, his arm shooting forward moments later, his clawed hand closing around her throat and lifting her off her feet; choking, she helplessly beat down on his arm, her feet kicking helplessly, his claws digging into the skin of her neck and drawing blood.

"We had protection spells put on us before we came here", the demon at the door informed her casually, stepping closer to her and running a thick finger down her cheek, his repulsive touch making her groan between desperate gasps for air. "But don't be afraid, little witch… We won't kill you. We just need you to deliver a message to a certain someone…"

He nodded at the demon who was holding her, making him let go; gasping, she fell to the ground, unable to stay on her feet, feeling warm blood trickle down her neck while she automatically grabbed her throat, a violent coughing fit shaking her.

"I'm best friends with the Slayer", she brought out after a few moments, giving her best to sound brave as she looked up at the three demons, the hoarse sound of her voice not making this easier for her. "And my girlfriend's a demon, too… So if you touch me…"

"Oh, we know about your girlfriend", the tallest one gave back, crouching in front of her, running his finger down her cheek once more, the sharp claw cutting the skin this time and causing more blood to flow, the witch not able to keep herself from whimpering. "She's the one we want our message delivered to…"

He smiled again, then pulled back his hand, forming a fist; and all at once, Willow realized what this message would be, her eyes widening just before the first punch landed, her pain soon pushing all other thoughts out of her mind.

* * *

"Buffy! Hey, Buffy! Dawn!" The by now familiar voice made both the Slayer and Dawn stop and turn, a smile appearing on their faces when they saw Pat approach her; speeding up into a light jog, the taller woman reached them seconds later, gesturing at the door leading into the dorm hall, quickly taking the last drag of her cigarette before she spoke up again. "I'm just about to pick Willow up for dinner, at that new Chinese place, want to tag along?"

"Willow mentioned that before I took this little shopaholic here to the mall", Buffy gave back, gesturing at Dawn and making her cross her arms in front of her chest, pouting, Pat briefly smirking at the sight, focusing on Buffy again when she continued. "And sure, we'd gladly come along, if that doesn't interfere with your plans…"

"Not at all", Pat reassured her, giving her one of those smiles Willow always described as "dazzling"; it didn't have the same effect on Buffy, of course, but still she smiled back almost automatically.

"I'll just go get her", the demon went on, "shouldn't take a minute…"

"Sure, we'll wait here", Buffy gave back, making Pat nod before she hurried into the building; it didn't take her long to reach Willow's and Buffy's room, knocking the door instead of just barging in – even though she had been with Willow for a while now, she still didn't feel it'd be alright to just enter.

"Willow?" she called out when no response came, frowning to herself and checking her watch, only to see that she was as punctual as possible; she knocked again, calling the redhead's name through the wood once more, worry suddenly filling her when the room behind the wood remained silent.

_She probably just fell asleep or something, _she told herself, this not helping to calm down her racing heart while she grasped the doorknob and turned it; moments later, her breath got stuck in her throat as the door opened and her gaze fell on the lifeless form lying in front of the bed, registering the bloodstains on her clothing and skin and on the carpet.

"Oh no", she brought out, forcing herself out of her paralysis so she could rush to Willow's side, her heart hammering in her chest painfully fast now, "Willow… Hey, come on, talk to me… Can you hear me? Talk to me, come on…"

When no response came, the demon squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds, trying to keep control over herself; then, she hurried back to the door, her voice gaining the attention of several people in the hallway and the adjoining rooms, making them look at her curiously, something she didn't even notice though.

"Buffy!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping that the Slayer would be able to hear her outside, "come quick! _Buffy!_"


	23. Chapter 23

The hallway in the hospital was as sterile and bleak as only hospital hallways could be, the chairs which had been mounted to the wall probably in the Top Ten of the most uncomfortable chairs in the world; Pat seemed to notice nothing of this though as she sat in one of those chairs, her head in her hands, staring into nothingness. Next to her, Dawn sat, her gaze focused on her fingernails; opposite to them, Buffy leaned against the wall, not able to sit down, her arms crossed over her chest, the three of them looking like a tableau of misery to Xander and Anya as they arrived there.

"Any news yet?" was the first thing Xander demanded to know, making Buffy shake her head; nervously, the young man ran both hands through his hair, obviously not knowing what to say, his eyes lightning up moments later though as something came to his mind. "Giles is on his way, too", he let the trio know helpfully, "he should be here soon…"

"Okay", Buffy gave back, throwing a concerned look at the demon afterwards – ever since Willow had been loaded into the ambulance car, she hadn't said a word, and had been sitting in the same position since their arrival here almost an hour ago, the doctor still checking the witch for broken bones and internal injuries, the beating she had taken being so bad that this was necessary.

"Xander", she added after a moment, looking at her friend again, "why don't you and Anya take Dawn and get some sodas, or something…"

"But…" Dawn started to protest, only to fall silent at the look Buffy shot her; she nodded without another word, briefly touching Pat's shoulder after getting up from her chair, Xander obviously relieved to get away from the bleak scene as he led her down the hallway and rounded a corner with her, the three of them quickly out of sight.

"Hey", the Slayer spoke up carefully as soon as she could be sure the others were gone and gave them the privacy which was needed, moving closer to the demon and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder as well, "I'm sure she'll be okay…"

"They hurt her because of me", Pat gave back after a few moments of silence, during which Buffy had wondered if she even had heard her, finally looking up, the expression in her eyes making the blonde woman's heart clench up – she never would have thought that someone who wasn't even human could look so devastated, even in a human form. "They did this to her because I quit that fucking job… That's all my fault…"

Her voice cracked at the last few words, and she fell silent, swallowing heavily; slightly shocked, Buffy realized that she was close to tears, and even though she still had had her doubts about this relationship in the beginning, she now crouched next to the miserable woman and, without thinking twice, put an arm around her shoulders.

"You can't know that", she carefully stated, hoping she was choosing the right words; to her dismay, her try to give comfort obviously hadn't worked, since Pat just let out a low snort in reply.

"I do", she then gave back, giving Buffy another such depressed look that the Slayer's heart melted, all doubt she still might have had blown away the moment she saw how honestly hurt and upset the black haired woman was by all of this.

"Before the ambulance came", the demon continued after taking in a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly, "when you were outside to guide them to the room… She woke up briefly… She told me that they were after me, and that I should be careful… _She_ was on the ground, bleeding from all those cuts and scratches, God knows how badly hurt, and told _me_ to be careful! You must hate me for putting her through all this…"

"No, I don't", Buffy immediately reassured her, making sure to hold her gaze as she spoke on. "You made her happy again after she spent practically a year in constant sadness… God knows that I and the gang tried to cheer her up after Tara had died, but none of us managed that, it was you who did that, you were the one who managed to put honest and happy smiles on her face again."

"And then I managed to have her beaten up by some demonic thugs so badly that she had to go to the hospital", Pat pointed out in reply, getting up from her chair afterwards so suddenly that she nearly made Buffy lose her balance.

"But I won't let them just get away with it and wait for them to come to me", she added, clenching her teeth so hard that her jaw muscles moved visibly beneath the skin, "I'll hunt them down and finish them off…"

"What?" Buffy gave back, flabbergasted, jumping to her feet as well a second later. "Are you crazy? You can't go after these guys alone, who knows how many there are! Do you have a death wish or something?"

"Willow got hurt because of me", Pat snapped at her in reply, the Slayer nearly taking a step back when the eyes of the taller woman lost their usual blue colour and started to glow in a bright red instead, nervousness rising within Buffy when smoke started to curl from the clenched fists of the taller woman, a clear sign that in the not too distant future, flames would appear. "You expect me to just sit here and let them get away with that?"

"No", Buffy gave back, briefly looking over her shoulder when she heard footsteps come up, then quickly grabbing the fists of the other woman so the approaching nurse wouldn't see the smoke; the skin felt much hotter than it should, and the Slayer imploringly wished that Pat's hands wouldn't burst into flames as long as she still was holding them.

"I expect you to wait here until they are done with treating Willow, so you can be with her then… and stop that now", she hissed, "or you'll set off the fire alarm!"

Taking in a deep breath, Pat squeezed her eyes shut in response; when she opened them again, they were back to their blue colour, and the smoke stopped rising from her hands, the skin cooling down rapidly, Buffy hesitatingly letting go of her.

"You know you can't stop me if I'll decide to go after them now", the demon snarled at her, obviously still quite upset; for a few moments, Buffy held her gaze, then shrugged, crossing her arms afterwards, her gaze and voice strict as she responded. "Actually, I think I could, being the Slayer and everything. But maybe I won't even try. If you want to go after those guys and kill yourself, go – I guess it'll be up to me then to tell Willow about your suicidal tendencies when she wakes up and asks for you…"

Obviously with protest in mind, Pat opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out; after a second, she closed it again, then sat down on the chair again heavily, Buffy letting out the breath she had been holding while she had been waiting for the taller woman's reaction.

"Those guys will get what they deserve", she spoke, once more making sure to capture Pat's gaze with hers, eager to get her point across. "But you won't go after them alone… We'll do that together. You think I don't want to make them pay as well? Willow's my best friend, has been for years, so right now, all I want to do is rush out there and kick all the asses I can find. But I've been a Slayer for years, and if there's one thing I learned, it's that you don't rush into a fight against demons blindly. Not even if you're a demon yourself and can do that fancy fire thing."

"I see your point", Pat sighed out after a few moments of pondering those words, running both hands through her hair, nervously taking off her glasses and cleaning them with her shirt before putting them back on. "But… I'm not even sure if I can explain that… You see, Willow's the first one I have all those feelings for, and seeing her like that… I know how cheesy that sounds, like something out of a bad movie, but it broke my heart… I don't know how to handle this…"

"I know what you mean", Buffy reassured her, giving her a wry smile and another reassuring pat on the shoulder. "The gang and I will help you handle it… And it surely is boosting Willow's ego sky-high to know she made a demon fall in love with her…"

To her relief, her joke worked just the way she had intended, making the demon smile as well; afterwards, Pat sighed, mumbling "God, I need a smoke" to herself, not getting up from the chair though, keeping her gaze fixed on the door leading to the room where Willow was treated, the seconds ticking by as both Buffy and the black haired woman waited for that door to open and the doctor to tell them that everything would be okay.


	24. Chapter 24

The room Willow had been put in was as sterile and bleak as the rest of the hospital, but neither Pat nor Buffy cared much about that as they were allowed into the room, Xander, Anya, Dawn and Giles waiting in the hallway, since the doctor had told them that a maximum of two people was allowed, explaining that the young woman needed her rest. Willow's eyes were closed when the two entered the room, one of them bruised with such a dark blue that it was almost black; in the eyebrow above it, a cut had been stitched up and covered with a band-aid, the rest of her face showing several more cuts and bruises.

Again, Pat looked as if she'd start crying any second while she just stood next to the bed, looking down on the redhead; the blanket which covered her up to her chest and the hospital gown hid any other injuries she had taken, but both Buffy and the demon knew that there was much more than just the cuts and bruises in her face. Hesitatingly, the black haired woman reached out after a few minutes of just looking at Willow, touching her hand tenderly; as if she only had waited for that, the witch opened her eyes moments later, a weak smile appearing on her face the moment her gaze met the one of her girlfriend.

"Hey", Pat brought out, the choked sound of her voice making Buffy's heart clench up once more, "there you are… I thought you're still out cold…"

"No", the redhead gave back, her voice sounding weak and hoarse, but at least showing that she was aware of her surroundings and of what was going on, "awake and aware, as always…"

"Are you in pain?" Buffy demanded to know, while Pat just crouched next to the bed, holding Willow's hand tenderly in both of hers, "should we get a nurse or the doctor…?"

"No need to", the redhead mumbled in reply, smiling weakly again afterwards, "I think they already pumped me full with painkillers… I don't feel a thing…"

"I guess that's good", Buffy smiled, glancing at Pat before she gestured at the door leading out of the room, giving the witch another smile before she spoke on. "Well, um, I'll go see your doctor… I'm sure he has a lot to tell us…"

She didn't bother to wait what Willow or Pat had to say about this, but simply turned and marched out, closing the door behind herself; smiling weakly, the redhead focused on her girlfriend again, her voice still weak when she spoke up. "At least this time, the excuse to leave us alone was creative…"

"I'm so sorry", Pat brought out in reply, as if she hadn't even heard her. "I'm so sorry this happened to you… If I had known they were after you, I never would have left you alone…"

"I know", Willow gave back, trying to sit up with a grimace, slumping back on the pillow when the movement caused pain to well up within her, despite the painkillers she had been given.

"It's not your fault", she added, smiling slightly again when Pat reached out with one hand to caress her hair tenderly, making sure to keep her fingers away from the band-aid at her eyebrow. "They probably would have hurt you too if you had been there… There were three of them and they… were resistant to my magic, unfortunately…"

"Well, they won't be resistant to fire, or to Buffy", Pat gave back, now looking determined again. "I promise you I'll make them pay for this… Those cowards…"

She fell silent, taking in a deep breath; sensing that there was more she wanted to say, Willow remained quiet, waiting for her to speak on, something she did after a minute of sorting her thoughts. "I promise I'll never let them hurt you again… God, when I entered your room and found you there, I thought my heart would stop… I've never been so scared in my entire life."

"Not in all two hundred and thirty eight years?" Willow gave back, smiling weakly; apparently though, Pat wasn't in the mood to joke, since she just shook her head, still caressing the hair of the young woman tenderly.

"For a moment, I thought you're dead", she went on, once more sounding close to tears. "And the thought of losing you…"

Her voice cracked, and she fell silent, taking off her glasses and squeezing her eyes shut; suddenly worried, since the demon never had displayed such strong emotions before, at least not negative ones, Willow finally did manage to sit up, despite the pain it gave her, grasping the hand of the other woman once more.

"Hey", she spoke up, giving her best to sound calming, "don't… I'll be fine, really, they didn't hurt me that bad, no broken bones or anything…"

"This time", Pat mumbled in reply, taking in a shaky breath before she finally put her glasses back on and looked up at the witch again, her eyes dry. "But… All of this, it made me realize… What a danger I might be for you…"

"I don't care", Willow gave back, her eyes widening a second later as she realized with terror where this might lead. "Wait… You're not breaking up with me, right? Please tell me you're not breaking up with me…"

"No!" Pat immediately gave back, to her great relief, giving her a mortified look. "Of course not… I'm just wondering if I'm… the right person for you…"

"Yes, you are", Willow reassured her hurriedly, "and now stop talking like this… I need you to cuddle me and spoil me and tell me how pretty I still am, even with my face looking as if I just went through ten rounds with Mike Tyson…"

"You'll always be pretty", Pat immediately reassured her in reply, to the relief of the redhead now smiling again as well; since her lower lip had been split by a well-aimed punch, the demon figured it wouldn't all too smart to kiss her there, bending over her and tenderly kissing her forehead instead, making her smile widely, all her pain for a moment forgotten.

* * *

Even though the demon wanted nothing else than just sit next to Willow's bed all day, she had figured that it would be unfair towards her friends, and thus had left the room to give them a chance to see the redhead as well, letting Buffy know that she'd go for a smoke in the meantime.

"I'll come with you", the Slayer immediately gave back, gesturing at the door when Pat threw her a surprised look in reply. "Xander and Anya are with Willow right now, and you heard what the doctor said – only two at a time."

"True", the demon gave back, then shrugged and nodded, obviously not minding that Buffy wanted to come along. Together, the two made their way to the hospital's inner courtyard, the black haired woman quickly finding her cigarettes there; not bothering to dig through her pockets for her lighter, she just looked around to make sure no one saw her before she snapped her fingers, lighting her cigarette up on the flame which appeared at her index finger.

"I wonder why you even bother to carry around a lighter", Buffy spoke after a few moments, smiling slightly, obviously eager to lighten the bleak mood a bit.

"I guess it'd draw unwanted attention if I did it like that with any civilians around", the demon gave back, smiling weakly as well; Buffy nodded her agreement, then spoke up again, now sounding serious. "I spoke to Willow's doctor when I left the two of you alone, as I said… I guess she was lucky, there are no broken bones or internal injuries, it's all just superficial, cuts and bruises… They still want to keep her over night, just to be on the safe side though…"

"She wasn't lucky", Pat sighed in reply, taking another drag of her cigarette afterwards, not looking half as satisfied as she usually did when smoking. "They did that on purpose… They know what they're doing. I've worked for that particular guy a few times before he hired me for that job, and that's how he warns those who pissed him off… He either goes after the ones close to them again afterwards, or straight for the offender, but the first warning is always like this, no serious injuries… I just wouldn't have thought he'd actually still bear that grudge, usually, he strikes faster…"

She sighed, taking another drag of her cigarette; next to her, Buffy pondered this new information in silence, a small, somehow menacing smile forming on her face after a while, a sight Pat wasn't sure she liked or was terrified by.

"You know", the Slayer stated, looking up at her with an evil glint in her eyes, "maybe we could use that to our advantage… According to what you just told me, they'll either go after you or after Willow next… Or both of you, if you stay together from now on."

"Yeah, so?" Pat gave back, not feeling all too smart; Buffy raised an eyebrow at her, shaking her head in disbelief afterwards. "You've been an assassin for two centuries and don't get what I'm aiming at?"

"Huh", the demon replied, shrugging helplessly, "I'm emotionally distraught right now, so sorry if I can't follow you."

"We'll use that to set up a trap for them", the Slayer explained after rolling her eyes skywards, asking herself if all demons got so dense when they were in love. "Send you two somewhere secluded, some house in the countryside or whatever, and wait for them there…"

"Oh", Pat replied, again not all too smart, "yeah… Sounds good…"

"The gang and I will tag along of course", the Slayer went on, now smiling again in that slightly menacing way Pat didn't really like, "and then, when they try to strike… We'll kick their asses."

"Can't wait for that", the demon muttered to herself, momentarily clenching her free hand into a fist; then, she took another drag from her cigarette to calm herself down again, smiling nastily to herself as she thought of the things she wanted to do to the demons who had hurt Willow, once more telling herself that she'd make them pay for the things they had done to the woman who meant so much to her.


	25. Chapter 25

When Buffy and Pat returned to Willow's room, Xander and Anya were back outside on the hallway, having traded places with Dawn and Giles; smiling, Buffy sat down next to them and started to explain her plan after she had let them know about the information Pat had given her on the whole situation, the demon standing at the wall this time, her arms crossed over her chest, her gaze from time to time moving to the door which led to Willow's room.

"You'll stay here with Willow tonight", Buffy gained her attention moments after she had finished explaining to Xander and Anya, "to make sure there won't be another attack… I doubt it'll happen so shortly after the first one, but better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Right", Pat agreed, thankful that the Slayer had chosen her to stay here; Buffy smiled knowingly at her, then let her know that she'd make sure the doctor wouldn't give them any flack about her staying during the night, asking Xander and Anya to explain their plan to Giles and Dawn as soon as they'd come out of the room while she'd go and talk to the doctor.

Not long after she had left, the Watcher and Dawn left the room, joining the couple on the hallway; immediately, Pat moved inside again, having no interest in hearing that plan for the third time, her desire to be with Willow again by now too big to be ignored.

"Poor you", she still observed while she closed the door behind her, then made her way to the bed, sitting down at the chair next to it, "you must feel as if you're in an airport or something, with people constantly coming and going…"

"It's okay", Willow gave back, smiling at her, the smile much more convincing than the ones she had given her right after waking up. "They're people I like… But all that talking made me thirsty…"

"Wait, I'll get you some water", the demon immediately offered, jumping up from her chair so fast she nearly knocked it over; she hurried to the washbasin, filling up the plastic cup which had been provided for this purpose there, returning to the bed afterwards, appearing slightly helpless once she sat down again.

"Um… You need help with that…?" she then asked, sounding so awfully insecure that it touched Willow's heart; smiling, she shook her head and sat up carefully again, briefly grimacing at the pain flashing up at her bruised ribcage, then took the glass from her girlfriend and emptied half of it at once, a satisfied burp escaping her afterwards, causing her to cover her mouth in embarrassment.

"Manners", Pat smirked, the redhead coughing in reply before she put the cup on her nightstand, then leaned back into the pillow again; as soon as she had made herself comfortable again, the demon grasped her hand and held it tenderly, to the redhead's relief not appearing as upset anymore as she had when she had been here with her the first time.

"Buffy told me what your doctor said", she stated, moving her free hand to caress Willow's hair once more, briefly making the redhead wonder why she seemed so keen on doing that. "That you're not badly hurt, but that they want to keep you here for the night…"

"Yeah", the witch grumbled in reply, clearly displeased by the thought, "that sucks… I wanted to spend the night at your place, with you…"

"Well, we can't be naughty here", Pat smirked in reply, "but I'll stay here with you…" At the surprised look Willow gave her in reply, she quickly explained what Buffy had come up with; after thinking about it for a while, the redhead nodded her agreement, figuring that it was probably the best plan they could come up with at such short notice, and with no real possibility to find the ones who had hurt her.

"You know, a trip to a house in the countryside sounds like an amazing idea", she smiled once she had thought this through and had agreed with it, "we should do this again when this business is finished, but just the two of us…"

"Sounds like a good idea indeed", Pat smirked, "but for now you should focus on getting better…"

"You behave as if I was in a coma or something", the witch gave back, smiling warmly to make the words sound less harsh. "That's sweet… But I told you, I'm not badly hurt, I'll be allowed to go home tomorrow…"

"Yeah, thank God", the demon sighed out in reply, then rose from her chair so she could bend over the redhead, kissing her cheek tenderly, still mindful of her split lip; apparently, Willow wasn't satisfied with this though, since she turned her head right after the demon had moved back again, gently pulling her back down so she could kiss her properly, the feeling of the taller woman's lips on hers once more causing all her pain to fade away.

* * *

Even though the doctor at first had protested Buffy's request to let Pat stay over night, he had given in after some – non-violent – persuasion from the Slayer; still he had tried to avoid it by telling the demon that no free bed was available, but the black haired woman had, to his dismay, reassured him that this was no problem and that she'd be perfectly fine with the chair the hospital had provided.

"You seriously want to spend the night sitting in that chair?" Willow demanded to know as soon as the doctor had left, frowning; shrugging, Pat sat down in said chair again, making herself comfortable by shifting around on it a little bit, folding her hands behind her head as soon as she was satisfied with the way she was sitting.

"It's not like I've got much of a choice", she then gave back, raising an eyebrow at the mischief sparkle that appeared in the witch's eyes in response. "Oh, no", she quickly spoke on as she realized where this might lead, "Willow, no, that's a bad idea…"

"Why?" the redhead gave back innocently, "I'm not hooked up to any machines or something, so there's no danger of you ripping anything out of my skin…"

"Urgh", the demon grimaced in reply, "thanks for _that_ detailed mental image… But still… That bed's for one person. Too narrow for two. I might fall out… or, even worse, _you_ might fall out. You're hurt enough already, I don't want to make it even worse by throwing you out of bed."

"We'll just have to cuddle then", Willow shrugged in reply, obviously not willing to give in. "I doubt sleeping in that chair can be good for your back", she went on, her next words making the demon puff. "Don't forget you're two hundred and forty years old…"

"Two hundred and thirty eight", Pat corrected, "that's young for a demon! I don't have back problems."

"Not yet", Willow went on teasing her, smirking when the taller woman huffed again, crossing her arms and giving the witch a dirty look afterwards.

"Watch your tongue, young lady", she then stated, the redhead noticing though that she was struggling to hold back a smile as well, only to nearly choke a second later at what Willow said next. "Should I? You liked what I did with it last night…"

"Shhht", the demon hissed, even flailing her hands at her, looking so shocked that Willow was forced to hold back laughter, even though she was a bit surprised herself at her behaviour – just a year ago, saying something like that would have been unthinkable to her. "What if someone outside hears?"

"They are all grown people", the redhead giggled in reply, absurdly satisfied with the fact that she actually had managed to freak her girlfriend out like that. "I'm sure they know what two grown women are doing in bed together…"

"But there's no need to point it out to them like that", Pat huffed, making Willow giggle again; as soon as she had calmed down again, she leaned towards the taller woman as far as she dared, taking a tender hold of her hand again and cooing "Awwww", the noise being enough to quickly make Pat smile again as well.

"No matter how much you coo now", she still was stubborn about the topic of sharing the hospital bed with her girlfriend, "that won't make me join you in that bed…"

"Fine", Willow gave in surprisingly fast, making the demon raise an eyebrow as she hadn't really expected the witch to accept this so quickly, "slumber in that chair then, if you insist… But you'll at least hold me until I fall asleep, right?"

"Of course", Pat gave back, even though she wondered if this was just another way to get her into the bed; then, she shrugged it off and smiled lovingly at the redhead, making her smile back immediately, the two just sitting there for a while and looking each other, glad that Willow hadn't been hurt too badly and that everything soon would be fine again.


	26. Chapter 26

Quite some time later, Willow had finished the dinner the hospital had served to her, even though it hadn't been all too tasty; since the hospital wasn't considerate enough to get Pat some food as well, Dawn had brought her some sandwiches from the cafeteria, along with a cup of coffee and a bottle of soda water. Despite the fact that the sandwiches tastes like cardboard and the coffee like murky water, the demon finished both of it, figuring that she'd need the energy; after both had gotten done eating, they made themselves comfortable again, Willow speaking up after a few seconds had passed in silence. "You know… We've been together for quite some time now, but still you refuse to show me that demonic form of yours… Why are you so keen on keeping that hidden?"

"Because it's not exactly pretty", Pat gave back immediately, wondering why the redhead would bring this up now; shrugging, Willow reached out to take a gentle hold of her hand, sounding sincere as she replied, holding the gaze of the taller woman, in the back of her mind once more amazed by how beautiful those eyes still appeared to her. "So? I don't care… Are you afraid you'll scare me away with it? You won't, so don't worry… It's part of you, and I want to know it…"

"I'm not sure I want you to know it though", Pat sighed out in reply, touched by how fast Willow had figured out the reason for why she kept her demonic self hidden from her. "And you're right, I am worried it might scare you away… I might be a handsome gal now, in this form, but trust me, I'm the exact opposite when I demon out."

"And you're so modest", Willow teased as response to the "handsome gal"; smiling, the demon shrugged in reply, a mischief sparkle in her eyes as she replied. "I just have a healthy self-confidence. Anything wrong with that?"

"Of course not", the witch giggled, smiling warmly when Pat gave her hand a tender squeeze; for a while, they sat in silence again, just enjoying each other's company, until Willow cleared her throat, a light blush colouring her cheeks as she spoke up again, clearly embarrassed by the request she had to make. "Um… I need to go to the bathroom, but I'm not sure if I can get there on my own… My legs still feel a bit wobbly… So… Would you mind…?"

"Of course not", Pat immediately gave back, to the great relief of the redhead not freaked out by this the slightest, "what kind of girlfriend would I be if I'd mind helping you? Come on…"

Quickly figuring out the easiest way to help the redhead, the demon bent over the bed so Willow could wrap an arm around her shoulders; as soon as she was holding on to her safely, she helped her out of the bed, steadying her by putting an arm around her waist.

"There we go", she smiled as soon as she had made sure that the witch was as steady on her feet as she could be in her current condition, "but I guess it's good that the bathroom isn't too far away…"

Grimacing, Willow nodded her agreement, gritting her teeth as she made her way to the bathroom at the other end of the room, Pat helping her along; even though her pain had been tolerable in bed, it was ten times worse now that she had gotten up, and she hoped that it would get better again once she'd laid back down.

"Better don't lock the door", the demon advised her once they'd reached the bathroom door and she opened it for the redhead, "just in case you start feeling faint in there…"

"Makes sense", Willow agreed, reluctantly letting go of the taller woman; once she could be sure she wouldn't fall down, she entered the bathroom, quickly finishing her business in there, grimacing in pain again when she got back up and moved to the washbasin to wash her hands. By now, her legs felt like spaghetti, briefly making her wonder if she'd really feel good enough go to back home in the next day; then, she told herself that a night of rest surely would make her feel stronger again while she left the bathroom, Pat's arm immediately embracing her around the waist again and steadying her the moment she stepped back outside.

"Thanks", she sighed out, leaning heavily on the taller woman as she let her lead her back to the bed, glad when she could lie down again.

"Wow… It's scary how weak I feel…" she mumbled as soon as she had made herself comfortable again, smiling when Pat spread the blanket over her and pulled it up to her chest, covering her up properly, "I just hope it'll be better tomorrow…"

"For sure", the demon gave back, once more taking her hand and holding it tenderly, "and if not… You can just do some sort of spell on yourself, right?"

"I guess so", Willow agreed after thinking about this for a moment, "but… Well, healing myself takes a lot of strength… I don't know if I have that…"

"You're one of the most powerful witches on this planet", the demon pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "And you think you're not strong enough for that?"

"It requires a huge amount", Willow informed her in response, grimacing once more as she shifted on her bed to make herself more comfortable. "It's easier to heal others, strangely enough, but not much…"

"Well, we can worry about this tomorrow, if you still don't feel better then", Pat gave back, obviously shrugging it off, "and I'm sure you'll be much stronger tomorrow, after a proper night of sleep…"

"I hope so", Willow smiled, then let out a small sigh while she closed her eyes, obviously still tired out by the beaten she had taken; smiling tenderly, the black haired woman moved closer to her and staring to gently caress her hair once more, making the witch smile as well, her pain slowly fading away at the tender touch of her girlfriend.

* * *

Another hour later, the witch finally declared that it was time to go to sleep now; taking the hint, and remembering that she had promised to hold her until she'd fallen asleep, Pat took off her shoes in response, then joined Willow in the bed, the redhead immediately snuggling up to her and resting her head on her shoulder, a content sigh escaping her when the demon wrapped her arms around her.

"This feels so good", she then mumbled, smiling when once more, Pat started to caress her hair tenderly. "And I really like when you do that…"

"I like doing it, too", the demon gave back, making Willow giggle slightly before she craned her neck so she could look at her. "No, really? I never would have thought so, with you doing that practically all the time since I've been taken here…"

"Don't make fun of me", Pat pouted in reply, causing the witch to let out an "Awww" sound again; smiling, she leaned upwards as far as she dared to kiss the taller woman, then rested her head on her shoulder again, a small sigh escaping her once more afterwards.

"You should get some sleep", the demon mumbled to her, her hand still moving through her hair; nodding, Willow cuddled even closer to the taller woman, closing her eyes afterwards, drifting off into sleep just a few minutes later, slumbering peacefully until the next morning dawned.

* * *

To her relief, Willow felt much stronger when she woke up in the next morning, strong enough to get out of bed on her own and make her way to the bathroom; to her amusement, Pat apparently had fallen asleep shortly after her, without bothering to get out of the bed again once the witch had drifted off, the demon still slumbering soundly, even snoring softly to herself as she laid flat on her back, still wearing all her clothes.

"I wish I had a camera", she mumbled to herself, taking another few moments to look at the cute sight before she finally made her way to the bathroom; when she got done with her business there and stepped back outside, Pat had woken up, sitting up on the bed and blinking at her sleepily.

"You little vixen", she then accused, with a twinkle in her eyes that showed that she wasn't as serious as it might have sounded, "you did that on purpose… Falling asleep lying halfway on top of me so I couldn't get out of that bed again without waking you up."

"I'd never be so manipulative", Willow protested in reply, smiling as well while she sat down on the bed next to her girlfriend, "I'm shocked you'd think of me that way… Plus, it's not my fault you're so cuddly."

"I think I have to work out more", the demon thought out loud in reply; immediately, Willow shook her head, making the taller woman chuckle, the couple sharing a tender, but innocent kiss afterwards.

"I better go and find your doctor", Pat stated afterwards, already rising from the bed, "so he can sign whatever release form he has to scribble his name on and you can go home…"

"Sounds like a good plan", Willow smiled in reply, "but don't hurry too much… Buffy's still gonna come here and bring me some fresh clothes, I don't want to leave in the ones I was wearing yesterday, they're all torn and bloodied."

At this, Pat grimaced, obviously not glad to have this memory brought up in her mind again; still, she nodded after a moment and sat back down, figuring that she could wait with getting the doctor until Buffy had arrived. While the couple sat waiting for the Slayer, one of the nurses entered the room, serving breakfast; it was just as tasteless as the dinner had been, but the witch made herself eat it anyway, munching everything down and even emptying the cup of coloured water the hospital dared to call tea.

Shortly after she had finished eating, the door opened, and Buffy poked her head in; she smiled when she saw the couple sitting on the bed, wishing them a good morning while she entered, holding up the travel bag she had brought along with her.

"Fresh clothes", she let Willow know helpfully, the redhead throwing her a grateful look in reply; taking the cue, Pat announced that she'd go and find the doctor now, making the witch nod, demanding another kiss though before she let her girlfriend go.

"The night was peaceful?" the Slayer asked, raising her hands before Willow could reply though and shaking her head, smiling to take some of the harshness out of her next words as she spoke on. "Wait, let me rephrase that before I get too much information… No attacks during the night?"

"Nope", the redhead gave back, raising an eyebrow at her best friend afterwards. "And there was no need to rephrase that… You behave as if I tell you about my sex life all the time, which I'm not."

"Point taken", Buffy admitted, moving the tray aside so she could sit down next to the witch, sounding more serious and concerned again when she spoke on. "How are you feeling? Better?"

"Much", Willow reassured her, smiling dreamily afterwards, her voice having a similar sound as she went on. "Pat stayed here with me, and held me during the night… It was so sweet…"

"In that bed?" Buffy commented in reply, raising an eyebrow, "looks kinda narrow for two…"

"Now you sound just like her", the witch giggled, causing the eyebrow of the Slayer to wander up even further, the door opening behind them keeping her from saying anything in response though.

"Good morning Ms Rosenberg", the doctor stated as he entered the room, with Pat close behind him; he gave Willow an oddly cheerful smile, then moved over to the bed and sat down beside it, asking her how she was feeling.

"Much better", the witch reassured him, hoping that he wouldn't change his mind about letting her go back home that day, the thought of spending another day and night in this bleak room making her shudder, even if Pat would be there with her again.

"Good to hear", the doctor smiled, scooting a bit closer to her as he spoke on. "Just let me check on you once more, then we can see if you can be released today… If you two would leave the room please so I can have a look at my patient in peace…?"

"Sure", Buffy gave back obediently, making her way to the door – and grabbing Pat's sleeve on the way out, pulling her along, making sure she would obey the doctor as well. Once outside, the two sat down in the uncomfortable chairs again, the demon crossing her arms over her chest while Buffy leaned back into a chair; after a while, she noticed that the other woman practically was unable to sit still, either shifting around on the chair or drumming nervous rhythms on the floor with her boots.

"What is it with you?" she finally asked after watching this in silence for a while, giving the taller woman a curious look. "No need to be nervous, Willow will be fine, you saw how good she felt today."

"I know", Pat gave back, shifting on the chair once more before she went back to tapping the floor with her foot, "it's not that…"

"Then what?" Buffy demanded to know; moments later, her eyes went wide, a giggle escaping her afterwards as the demon shot her a miserable look while she responded. "Nicotine withdrawal… I really, really need a cigarette. Really."

"Poor you", the Slayer tried to show sympathy, holding back the urge to laugh, not wanting Pat to think she was making fun of her; still she couldn't help herself, but just had to laugh again after a moment, the black haired woman giving her another miserable look before she sighed to herself and went back to tormenting the floor with her boots, glancing at the door every now and then as she waited for the doctor to come out and tell them that Willow would be allowed to go back home.


	27. Chapter 27

It didn't take long until the door finally opened and the doctor stepped out; both Buffy and Pat rose from their seats at his exit, the elder man smiling at them reassuringly and letting them know that Ms Rosenberg was fine to go home, causing them to let out a relieved sigh in perfect unison. While Buffy remembered her manners and thanked the doctor for his care, Pat did no such thing, but entered her girlfriend's room immediately; to her surprise though, the bed was empty, and she frowned before she called out Willow's name, smiling again when the response came from the bathroom. "In here! I'm changing."

Smirking to herself, the demon made her way to the bathroom door and pushed it open, momentarily glad that Willow hadn't thought of locking it; she was greeted by the sight of the witch standing there in her bra and the pants Buffy had brought her, the shirt the Slayer had packed for her in her hands. Normally, the sight of Willow wearing nothing but a bra and pants would have been enough to fire up Pat's lust – sometimes, it was enough to just look at her even when she was fully dressed; this time though, the bruises and covered up cuts she could see on her girlfriend's upper body kept any passionate feelings at bay, her smile slowly fading as she studied the damage the demons had done to the redhead.

When her girlfriend had entered the bathroom, Willow had already been coming up with a saucy remark about how this wasn't exactly polite; now, as she saw the serious expression which entered Pat's eyes, she held it back though, dropping the shirt into the – thankfully dry – sink before she moved closer to the taller woman, looking up at her with a small smile curling her lips. "Hey… Don't look so gloomy. That looks worse than it is, really, it doesn't even hurt anymore… Well, not much."

"They'll pay for every single one of those cuts and bruises", the demon pressed out in response, a strange mixture of anger and sadness in her voice. "They'll wish they never would have touched you once I'm done with them… Maybe I'll even make them apologize to you before I kill them."

"It's times like those when I'm reminded that you're a demon", Willow smirked in reply; usually, she shied away from thoughts about revenge, especially ever since the horrible things she had done during her time in the darkness, but somehow, hearing those words from the taller woman touched her, as it showed once more how much she meant to the demon and that this time, those feelings were definitely honest.

"But for now, stop being so gloomy and grumpy", she added, picking the shirt up at last and putting it on before she demanded a tender, but innocent kiss from the taller woman, "and take me home…"

"Gladly", Pat gave back, to the witch's relief now smiling slightly again as well; in a sudden burst of theatrical behaviour, she offered her arm to the redhead, making her giggle while she took it and let the demon lead her out of the room and into the hallway, where Buffy was waiting for them, ready to take them out of this bleak place and back home.

* * *

The moment the three stepped out of the hospital, Pat found her cigarettes and lit one of them up, this time doing it the traditional way by using her lighter, since way too many people were around; both Buffy and Willow watched in amusement how she took a long drag of the cancer stick, a happy sigh escaping her after she had blown a cloud of smoke towards the sky.

"You should have seen her in the hallway, while your doctor was with you", Buffy helpfully informed Willow, smirking at the demon before she spoke on, her words making the redhead laugh. "She was practically bouncing in the seat, and tapping her feet all the time… It was irritating."

"Awww, poor you", the redhead cooed in reply, squeezing her girlfriend's hand tenderly before she focused on Buffy again, the demon smiling again next to her at what she told the Slayer. "No surprise she was behaving that way… After you guys had left, she wouldn't leave my room for a minute, so she didn't smoke since then…"

"You have no idea how good that cigarette tastes now", Pat confirmed, taking another long drag; both Buffy and Willow shook their head in reply, the Slayer changing the topic a moment later as she spoke up again, now sounding serious again. "While the two of you were in the hospital yesterday, I talked to Giles and the rest of the gang about our plan… We'll wait another day or two, so you can regain your strength properly, Willow, then we'll get started. Giles is booking a little house out in the countryside… Pat, you know how to drive a car, right?"

"Of course", the demon gave back, holding back a snarky remark about how it'd be rather weird if she didn't know that, with her age and job and everything.

"Good", Buffy smirked, "we'll find you a car then which you can use with Willow to get there… The rest of us will drive there the night before and camp close to the hut…"

"Let's just hope this will work out", Pat sighed out in reply, giving the redhead a loving glance as she spoke on. "As much as I want to make them pay and kick their asses from here to next Sunday, I guess I'd be in trouble if I had to face them all alone…"

"That won't happen", Buffy reassured the demon, correcting herself a moment later though, to the dismay of both Pat and Willow. "Well, maybe for a minute or two, until we get there…"

"I guess I'll be able to handle them for that time", the demon then stated, while the redhead gave her a concerned look; the last thing she wanted was that her girlfriend got hurt, even though she knew that in her demonic form, Pat would be able to heal wounds which might even be much more dangerous for a human.

"Everything will work out fine", Buffy now reassured, clearly sensing her best friend's worry about this whole thing; making herself nod, Willow smiled bravely, trying to ignore the doubtful thoughts about this in the back of her mind, telling herself that there wasn't much else they could do and that it was necessary to get rid of those demons once and for all.

* * *

Two days later, the time to pull their plan off had come; to make the whole thing more believable for any demons who might be watching them secretly, both Pat and Willow had packed up enough clothing and supplies to make their pretence of wanting to spend a few days out in the countryside believable, the demon making a show of loading the travel bags into the trunk of the car Giles had organized for her.

"Let's hope we don't get lost on the way", she commented while she closed the trunk, then made her way to the driver's side of the car; nodding, Willow let herself fall into the passenger seat, putting on her seatbelt while Pat started the car, scolding the demon afterwards and telling her that she should wear her safety belt as well, the black haired woman obeying her with a slight sigh escaping her.

"I've been driving for a century, give or take", she then pointed out, "I know what I'm doing…"

"But you never know about the other drivers", Willow gave back, leaning back into the seat comfortably afterwards while her girlfriend stepped down on the gas pedal and drove away from her apartment building; for a while, the only sound in the car was the music coming from the radio, something heavy with guitars and lots of screaming and growling, normally not Willow's preferred type of music, but something she didn't mind much at the moment, her thoughts too occupied with what might happen at the house in the countryside.

The fact that apparently, their enemies knew her well enough to protect themselves against her spells bothered her, as it rendered her more or less useless for the fighting; whenever she was able to use her magic against their opponents, she knew that she could do a great deal of help and support, but without that, there wasn't much she could do, knowing that she wasn't physically strong enough to beat them that way.

"You're still worried something might go wrong, right?" Pat spoke up next to her after a few more minutes had passed, making her look at the woman beside her; briefly, the demon returned the glance, then focused on the road again while Willow let out a sigh and nodded, forcing herself to smile afterwards.

"Not without reason", she then started to explain, reaching over with one hand and placing it on the upper leg of her girlfriend, the touch making Pat smirk at her again briefly. "You know, during all those years I've been helping Buffy with her Slayer tasks, we've often made plans that sounded perfect, but then something always went awry. And I'm just worried it might happen again this time, and one of us gets hurt… Especially knowing that those guys are immune to my magic…"

"I won't let them hurt you, I promise", Pat gave back, giving her another brief look afterwards, her eyes so full of warmth and love that it made Willow's heart clench up. "And I can defend myself well enough", she added before the redhead had the chance to point out that she might get hurt as well, "you don't get two hundred and thirty eight years old if you can't stand your ground in a battle."

"I guess so", the redhead sighed out after a moment, still feeling worried though, the sound of her voice causing the demon to give her another reassuring glance.

"I promise you everything will be fine", she stated once more, reaching over with one hand to briefly, but reassuringly touch the shoulder of the other woman. "Don't worry… It'll all be fine and dandy."

That expression made the witch giggle at last, and she nodded, allowing herself to be convinced of this; smiling back at her, Pat used the chance given to kiss her at a red traffic light, then drove on as it switched to green, the witch once more leaning back into her seat and looking out of the window at the landscape passing by, giving her best to keep the gnawing doubts that something might go wrong out of her mind.


	28. Chapter 28

An hour and a half later, the couple finally arrived at the house Giles had rented for their little plan; just like it had been promised, it was rather secluded, the next neighbour at least a mile away, making sure that no one would hear any sounds of fighting once the attack would start. Being the perfect gentleman, Pat carried both her own bag and the one Willow had packed into the hut, the witch following her with the cooler they had brought along; she put it on the ground in the middle of the room, looking around afterwards, smiling slightly to herself, having to admit that Giles had made a good choice – the house looked exactly like the place she might choose for a romantic getaway.

"You know, if this place still stands after the attack, we really should come back here some time", she stated while Pat already made her way into the bedroom, dropping the travel bags on the king sized bed there; following her, Willow wrapped her arms around her from behind, resting her cheek on the taller woman's back, smiling to herself when she heard the strong heartbeat.

"Indeed", the demon now agreed, turning in Willow's embrace so she could face her, putting both arms around her as well. "And it's too bad we can't make proper use of that bed…"

"Agreed", Willow sighed, throwing a longing glance at said bed; all she wanted was to push the taller woman down on in and get naughty with her, but she knew that this way too risky, the chance of being attacked in the middle of their intimacy being too high. Pushing those thoughts aside, she tenderly pulled the taller woman down to her so they could share a rather passionate and deep kiss; afterwards, the demon smiled at her before she moved to the window and looked outside, scanning the area around the house.

"I wonder where Buffy and the rest are camping", she commented, making Willow move to her as well; they both looked out of the window for a while, trying to get a glimpse of the tent through the bushes and trees surrounding the house, then Willow shrugged and moved away from the window again, smiling up at the taller woman.

"I'm sure she's close enough to hear it once they start attacking", she then stated, leaving the bedroom again and making her way to where she had put down the cooler, the demon close behind her. "She knows what she's doing…"

"Never doubted that", Pat commented in reply, accepting the soda can Willow was holding out to her, opening it and taking a long gulp of the cold drink, "she wouldn't be still alive, being the Slayer and everything, if she didn't know what she's doing…"

"My point exactly", the redhead smiled in reply, nodding when afterwards, Pat asked her if she wanted to go outside with her for a smoke; together, they left the house, stopping in front of the door where they stood next to each other in silence as the black haired woman smoked her cigarette, both of them silently wondering when the attack would start.

* * *

Later, when everything was over, Willow realized that it shouldn't really have been a surprise that the attack had happened at night, and that things hadn't gone exactly as planned; still she was startled the moment she heard glass break in the middle of the night, the sound jerking her out of the deep sleep she had been enjoying in the large bed, cuddled up to Pat, the woman beside her immediately fully awake as well the moment the noise echoed through the house.

"There they are", she muttered, throwing the covers aside and getting out of bed; since both had anticipated the attack to happen at night, they had gone to sleep with all their clothes on, the demon now still taking the time to step into her boots while Willow hurried over to the bedroom window and opened it, whispering the spell she had prepared just for that, a bright ball of light shooting out of the air and exploding in the sky the second she had said the last word, hopefully loud and bright enough to wake Buffy and the rest up and make them realize that it was time to fight.

Once she had finished the spell, she turned around and nodded at Pat; holding her gaze, the demon returned the gesture, then clenched her fists, the skin bursting in flames moments later, lightning the dark room up with dancing shadows and flickering light.

"Come and get some", she pressed out between grit teeth as heavy footsteps approached the door leading to the bedroom; then, it flew open, exposing three demons Willow recognized as the ones which had attacked her, a taller, fourth shape looming behind them.

"There they are", the demon who had choked her back in the dorm room now smirked, taking another step into the room, his eyes glistening evilly, "the traitor and her little toy for bed…"

"You're too late for the show", Pat replied, the demons apparently unfazed by the fact that her hands were aflame and that, by now, her eyes were glowing brightly red as well, "but you can still get a good whooping if you want… I owe you one for what you did to my girlfriend, anyway."

And with those words, she brought her fists up, the flames seeming to burn brighter for a few seconds; snarling, the three demons through themselves forward as well, and moments later, a fight had erupted in the middle of the bedroom, Willow watching with her heart hammering up to her chest how her girlfriend delivered punches left and right, setting hair on fire and making the demons howl in anguish. Even though Pat clearly had the upper hand, aided by her fiery nature, the redhead kept hoping that Buffy would arrive soon; before she could glance out the window again though to look if the Slayer was on her way, the fourth shape she had seen behind the demonic trio approached as well, making its way past the fighters in the middle of the room and closer to her.

With her heart suddenly hammering up to her throat, Willow stared at the creature, at once realizing that this was the demon who had hired Pat to kill Buffy, the leader of this particular gang; he smiled at her, displaying sharp and dangerous looking teeth, his voice a low growl as he spoke up. "So you're the one who made one of my best assassins change sides… I have to admit, you are a pretty one, so it's a pity I'll have to do this…"

With his smile widening, he reached into a hidden pocket of the robe he was wearing, and brought forth a long, awfully sharp-looking dagger, approaching her with the blade raised – and this was when Buffy made her spectacular entrance through the window at the opposite side of the room, fulfilling the chaos as she was pulled into the fight Pat was still having with the three other demons, the noise they were creating with their fighting drowning out the shout for help Willow let out as her magic once more puffed away when she tried to use it against the demon, her opponent just brushing her spell off and letting out scornful laughter as he kept approaching her, the sharp blade glistening in his hand.

* * *

During her psychology lessons, Willow once had been taught that accident victims often didn't remember how the accident had happened, that the experience and sights just had been too shocking for them to comprehend; later, she would wish that the same might have happened to her when things started to go wrong, but she was forced to see everything happening in perfect clarity, the images burning themselves into her mind forever.

At first, she had been relieved when Pat had noticed that the leader of the pack was approaching her, obviously with murder in mind; she had gotten rid of the demon she had been focusing on by grabbing him and, without further ado, throwing him out of the window Buffy had made her entrance through, leaving the other two to the Slayer and tackling the one who had been after her girlfriend, Willow letting out a gasp as they both ended up on the ground. In perfect, painful clarity, she saw the blade flash up, blood dripping to the wooden floor moments later; seemingly unfazed this by though, Pat just snarled in reply, ramming her still burning brightly fists into the demon's face afterwards, the howl of pain he let out a putting a smile on her face.

Grabbing him with both hands, she threw him off her, then came to her feet surprisingly quick, while Willow tried to spot where she had been hurt; snarling again now, her girlfriend dragged the demon up, giving the witch a chance to see that his eyes had been burned away into nothingness before the taller woman grabbed him around the lower jaw and the top of his head, twisting his head sideways with a short, but brutal movement, the dry noise of his neck breaking echoing through the room, even over toning the sounds Buffy was making as she still was busy with the two other demons.

Obviously still with her blood welling up, Pat now re-joined that fight; she grabbed the arm of one of the two as he lashed out to punch the Slayer, giving him a brief cruel smirk when he turned his head in surprise, only to punch him moments later, a harsh kick following the first hit, sending the demon to the ground. Taking the chance given, Buffy pushed the second one aside, finishing the demon on the floor off afterwards by ramming the dagger she had brought into his chest; when she looked up again though, her gaze widened, giving Willow just enough time to turn around before the demon Pat had thrown out the window grabbed her through the one she was standing at, a cry escaping her as his claws dug into the skin of her neck once more, tearing the barely healed wounds there open again.

"Get the Hell away from her!" she heard Pat shout behind her as she was lifted off her feet once more; choking, she beat down on the arm holding her, not seeing how her girlfriend picked up the dagger the leader had dropped when she had killed him, rushing past his corpse, the demon holding Willow just having enough time to look at her before she was upon him, ramming the dagger into his flesh.

Howling, he let go of the witch and stumbled backwards; after a brief look to make sure Willow was alright, Pat followed him through the window, the witch having a second to notice the trail of blood drops she left behind before the only demon in the room who remained alive was slammed into the wall next to her, startling her and making her cry out again.

"Sorry", Buffy apologized as she rushed up to the monster she had thrown against the wall, planting her dagger into his chest with ease; outside, another demonic howl came up, then the night was quiet again, causing the witch to let out the breath she had been holding.

"Seems as if it's over", she carefully stated, looking at the killed demons on the ground; miraculously, the furniture hadn't suffered too much damage, the only item which had been broken being one of the nightstand lamps, the shards lying in splatters of green and red blood.

"Good they don't have a carpet in here", Buffy commented in reply, pulling her dagger out of the demon's chest and grimacing at the green goo covering it, looking around for something where she could wipe it; before she had the chance to spot something though, footsteps came up outside again, and moments later, Pat entered the room, all flames gone, looking tired now that the fight was over, one hand pressed against her stomach.

"Impressive fighting", Buffy complimented her the moment she entered, the demon giving her a weak smile in reply; she stopped in the doorway and stood there for a moment, worry suddenly filling Willow's heart as she noticed how her girlfriend swayed on her feet, the witch all at once noticing how pale she had become.

"Are… are you alright?" she carefully spoke up, coming to her feet and taking a step closer to the taller woman, her voice trembling as she continued. "Why are you holding your stomach like this…?"

In response, Pat looked down on her hand, as if she only noticed now what she was doing; without saying a word, she pulled her hand back, the eyes of both Buffy and Willow widening as the palm came away drenched in red, the demon looking up at the two with her eyes glazing over strangely – before she collapsed to the ground, hitting the wooden floor with a low thud and remaining there motionless.


	29. Chapter 29

"_No!" _Willow cried out as she saw her girlfriend fall, all of her own pain forgotten immediately as she rushed to her side, her heart hammering up to her throat with fear so big it was almost panic. "No… Please, no…"

Falling to her knees next to the taller woman, she ripped her shirt open without caring about ruining it, tears filling her eyes as she saw the stab wound which had been inflicted on her loved one, blood still seeping from it and soaking her shirt and pants.

"Don't you dare to do this", Willow pressed out, moving her gaze from the wound to the pale face of the demon, the blue eyes she almost had loved so much now glazed over with pain and shock as the full realization about how badly she had been hurt kicked in. "Don't you dare to die on me now… Please, I need you, I can't go through this again, not again…"

Next to her, Buffy kneeled down as well, her gaze darkening as she saw the wound; one glance was enough to let her realize how bad it was, her mind still clear enough though to let her rip off another piece of the black haired woman's shirt and press it on the wound to stop the bleeding.

"You're hurt", Pat now brought out, the tremble in her voice causing the tears which so far only had been shimmering in her eyes to roll down the redhead's cheeks, mixing with the blood which still was trickling from her neck. "I'm lousy at keeping promises, it seems…"

"It's not bad", Willow made herself reply, nearly choking on her tears as she spoke on, cupping the taller woman's cheek with one hand. "And don't talk… You're hurt… Just hold on, okay? Please hold on, I can't take it to lose you, I can't handle this again…"

"Here", Buffy now tried to gain her attention, grabbing her free hand and moving it to the by now reddened piece of clothing she had been pressing on the wound, "hold this there… Push down hard, we need to stop the bleeding, I'll get the rest and get some help…"

For a moment, the Slayer thought that her best friend hadn't even heard her, then Willow nodded and increased the pressure on the cloth; after another worried look at Pat, Buffy came to her feet and hurried out of the room and the house, rushing to where the tent had been put up.

"Willow, listen", Pat now spoke up, a cough shaking her afterwards, the heart of the redhead breaking as blood splattered from her mouth and ran down her cheeks, the gruesome sight not making her pull her hand back though.

"No, don't talk", she tried to stop the demon, glancing briefly at the cloth to make sure it was still covering the wound properly before she focused on her girlfriend again, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "Just hold on…"

"I need to say this", the black haired woman pressed out in reply, a pain filled groan interrupting her before she went on, her breath now coming in fast and hectic gasps. "I've never had someone… in my life who meant as much to me as you do… I… I'm still not sure what is going on to make me feel this way, but I think… I think I love you…"

"I love you, too", Willow sniffled, her heart clenching up as she realized why her girlfriend had insisted on making this confession now. "But don't talk like that… You'll be fine, really… Buffy's getting the others, they'll help you and you'll be fine…"

She had no idea how the others were supposed to help exactly, with none of them being a doctor; then, her eyes widened as a thought hit her, her voice sounding stern as she spoke up again. "Or, or you'll just turn into your demonic form, and heal it… You can do this, right? Even with such a wound…?"

"I don't know", Pat gave back, groaning again afterwards, another cough shaking her and causing more blood to trickle down her cheeks, "but… not in front—"

"Don't you give me any crap about not doing this in front of me now!" Willow snapped, her fear of losing the taller woman suddenly turning into anger. "Do you think I'd rather watch you die here now than seeing this? Do you think I'd rather lose you than facing this? Do it, now! Do it and be fine again… please… I need you…"

Her voice nearly cracked again at the last few words, more tears rolling down her cheeks; after a second, Pat groaned again, then obviously gave in, her voice weak as she replied. "Fine… But don't say I didn't warn you… Help me up…"

"What?" Willow gave back, dumbstruck by this request; with another groan, the black haired woman sat up as much as she could on her own, nearly slumping back down a second later, her eyes filled with pain as she looked at the redhead again. "Help me up... I can't do this lying down… And then stand back, I don't want to set you on fire…"

Nodding, Willow grabbed her around the waist and helped her to her feet, hesitatingly letting go of her as soon as she stood and taking a few steps back. Closing her eyes, Pat took in a few deep breaths, then lowered her head, smoke starting to rise through her clothes shortly afterwards, a thicker column curling out of the wound, the sight briefly making Willow nauseous. Still, she forced herself not to look away; and moments later, the flicker of flames filled the room again, accompanied by a low growl Pat let out as her human form vanished completely, replaced by something much darker and much more gruesome.

* * *

Buffy's first instinct when she entered the room again and saw the creature standing in the middle of it was to grab her dagger and stab it; then, she recognized the black and red fur she could glimpse through the flames surrounding the demon's body, realizing that the clothing it still was wearing was identical with what Pat had had on her body when she had left to get help.

"Demon!" Xander cried out behind her, obviously realizing what was going on not nearly as fast as the Slayer; before he could rush into the room though, Anya stopped him, shaking her head to herself at the density of her boyfriend.

"No, Pat", she then pointed out, causing Xander to gape at her; then, the nauseating fleshy noises which started to come from the demon made all four look at it again, Giles being the first one to realize what was happening this time.

"She's healing herself", he stated, watching in fascination how the wound Pat had taken slowly started to close, "this is remarkable… There are not many demons around with such strong healing powers…"

"It's working", Willow now gained the attention of the small group, her cheeks still wet with tears, a smile on her face now though. "Thank God, it's working…"

Carefully, she stepped closer to the demon, the flames surrounding her dimming slightly as the witch came closer; she could feel the warmth coming from them, but they were nowhere near as hot as she had expected, making her wonder briefly if Pat was toning them down to make sure she wouldn't hurt her. Hesitatingly, ready to pull back the moment she'd feel the fire burn her, she reached up with one hand; moments later, her fingers passed through the flames unharmed and came to a tender rest on the fur-covered cheek of the demon, a small smile curling her lips again as she looked up at her.

"I hope you believe me now that this won't scare me away", she mumbled, making the demon nod in reply; moments later, the flames started to die down completely, giving them all of a brief clear glimpse of the demon before she fully returned to her human form, the wound in her stomach now gone, the only traces left of it being the blood on her clothes.

Smiling up at her, Willow kept her hand up against her cheek, her eyes now shining with happiness as she glanced down on the stomach of her loved one, as if to reassure herself once more that the wound really had healed and that she hadn't imagined it, then glanced back up, her voice clearly showing her emotions as she spoke up again. "And you're fine again… I can't tell you how happy this makes me…"

"You lied to me!" Anya now butted in before Pat had a chance to reply, causing the demon to give her a flabbergasted look, everyone else turning to stare as well.

"What?" Pat finally asked, sounding as stunned as all of them looked, this not impressing Anya though, the ex-demon folding her arms over her chest and glaring at the taller woman.

"You lied to me", she repeated, gesturing at Pat's hair afterwards, sounding honestly annoyed when she spoke on. "You said you're having that strands done at the hairdresser, but your demon fur had just the same colour! So it is natural!"

For a few seconds, everyone just stared at her; then, Willow shook her head, giving the other woman an annoyed look. "She nearly died a few minutes ago, and now you complain about her _hair_? What's wrong with you?"

"I could hardly tell you that, could I", Pat now threw in as well, mimicking Anya by crossing her arms over her chest as well. "None of you knew I was a demon back then, so of course I couldn't tell you!"

"Well", Anya started, taking a step closer to the taller woman, "it's still not nice, and I think…"

"Stop talking about her hair!" Willow snapped so loudly that it surprised everyone, and even made Anya shut up; shaking her head, the redhead wrapped both arms around her girlfriend, immediately making Pat return the embrace, her voice still stern though as she spoke on. "She nearly died not all too long ago, as I just pointed out, and all you can worry about is her hair?"

"She's fine now", Anya shrugged, causing the rest to roll their eyes; then, Pat started to chuckle and shook her head, the sounds of her laughter soon making the others join as well, the tension falling off all of them as they fully realized that everything would be fine.


	30. Chapter 30

Author's Note: And thus, my first try at BtVS fanfiction comes to an end. Hope you enjoyed reading, feedback would be very appreciated. For those who're interested, a sequel to this already has been finished and will be posted here soon.

* * *

"Don't you ever dare to scare me like that again", Willow mumbled several hours later, half lying, half sitting on the large bed in Pat's apartment, a pillow in her back allowing her to comfortably lean against the headboard, a glass of wine in one hand, the other one gently moving through the long hair of the woman beside her. "I really thought you'd die back there… I wouldn't have been able to handle that, not again…"

All at once, her free hand moved back from the taller woman's hair and formed a fist; moments later, she punched Pat's upper arm, causing her to yelp in surprise. "Ow!" she then complained, throwing the redhead a stunned look, "what was that for?"

"For scaring me like that!" Willow gave back, shaking her head, taking a sip of her wine before she continued. "And for refusing to go into that demonic form even when you were close to dying! Honestly, after all that fuss you made about it, I was expecting some outrageous monster with fangs and tentacles and what not, but it wasn't that creepy at all. It actually reminded me of Beast from the X-Men, only red and black instead of blue. And still you didn't think of that on your own, but just laid there bleeding and in pain until I made you do it?"

"Sorry", Pat apologized, rubbing her arm with a grimace, throwing the redhead another incredulous look. "Tell me again why you don't want to physically fight demons? You've got quite the punch, I bet that'll bruise."

"If I hadn't made you transform, you'd never bruise again at all", Willow gave back, unimpressed; when the demon gave her another puppy-dog eyed look though, she melted and let out an "Awww" sound, rubbing the arm she had punched soothingly.

"I'm sorry", she then sighed out, snuggling up closer to the taller woman, making sure she wouldn't spill her wine in the process, "but… I was so scared you'd die, you know? I really don't think I would have been able to cope with it if I'd lost you… It was hard enough to go through this once…"

"I'd promise you I won't die anytime soon, but I'm not that good on keeping the promises I make to you, it seems", the demon gave back, grimacing slightly as she moved Willow's hair away from her neck and exposed the cuts the demon's claws had left there; they had been cleaned and disinfected, but still looked painful, making Pat regret the fact that she had no band-aids at home once more.

"Oh please", the redhead shook her head in reply, "those are just scratches… They don't count. Plus, you killed the guy who did it, even though you took a knife to the gut in the process…"

"Actually, no", the demon admitted after a moment, giving Willow a lopsided smile at the surprised look she received in response. "I already took that knife to the gut when I tackled the leader…"

"What?" the redhead cried out, her eyes going wide, "and you still kept on fighting afterwards? How could you do that?"

"Demon strength?" Pat shrugged in reply, giving her a wry smile afterwards. "Plus, as long as those other demons were still around, there was the possibility you might get hurt… Couldn't let that happen…"

"Whenever you say something as sweet as that, I find it hard to believe you're really a demon", Willow sighed out in reply, all her annoyance about her girlfriend's behaviour after the battle forgotten as she looked up at the taller woman with shining eyes. "I've never met a demon as cute and kind-hearted as you…"

"Oh, but I'm not like that with everyone", the demon quickly pointed out, obviously fearing for her demon credibility at hearing those words. "Just with you."

"When did that start?" Willow demanded to know in reply, the sudden question making Pat raise an eyebrow at her, her slightly confused look causing the witch to clarify after taking another quick sip of her wine. "I mean, when did it stop to be acting from your part and became real…"

"Let me think", the black haired woman gave back in reply, chuckling when Willow punched her upper arm in response again, sounding slightly miffed as she spoke up again. "You have to think about that?"

"No, of course not, just teasing you", Pat smirked in reply, now taking the time to drink some of her wine as well before she continued talking. "Honestly, I'm not sure I want you to know, I don't want to bring back all those painful memories… But if you really need to know, it became real when we walked home from the Bronze and held hands, that time when Buffy made up her flimsy excuse about forgetting a thing there… That's why I at first thought you put a spell on me, I was so sure it happened when I touched your hand…"

"I'd never put a spell on you", Willow protested, skilfully ignoring the fact that she actually had done so not all too long ago, only to nearly choke on her wine as the demon beside her replied. "Liar, Liar, pants on fire. That truth spell?"

"I'm not wearing any pants at the moment", Willow found it necessary to point out, using the comment to buy some time, but still sounding stunned as she continued. "And you knew? The whole time?"

"Nope", Pat smirked in reply, making it clear that she didn't hold a grudge against the witch for putting that spell on her, "I actually kinda found out on accident… You know how Anya is always really, really direct? Well, she asked me if we'd done it already, and to my own surprise, I found myself telling her that yes, we did, and how awesome it was… I'm normally not the one to brag about such things, so I checked myself quickly and that was when I noticed you put that spell on me."

"I'm sorry for not telling you", Willow sighed out in reply, suddenly feeling bad about the whole thing again. "I should have let you know… It wasn't fair to keep this from you even after we knew you're honest now…"

"Don't worry about it", Pat shrugged, giving her another warm smile then before she kissed her tenderly, moving one hand to caress her hair again, something she obviously didn't get enough of. "I understand why you had to do it, really… But no more secrets from now on, okay?"

"Never again", Willow promised sincerely in reply, kissing her tenderly once more afterwards; somehow, she managed to put her wine glass aside before the kiss deepened and she might have spilled some of the deep red liquid on the sheets, a sigh escaping her when the demon moved her hand from her hair to her face, caressing her cheek tenderly.

Sometimes, she still found it hard to believe that this really was happening, that she had found someone again after the tragedy which had ended her time with Tara, after a year during which she had been sure she'd never feel for someone that way again; despite all her doubts and sometimes worries if this really might work out, she was sure that it was for real this time as passion seared through her once more, setting her heart aflame and letting her forget everything around her, her only focus on the woman beside her, the one she knew she loved with all her heart and would never let go.

End.


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